My Little Workhorse. Zoe The Journey So Far.

PRESSTOG

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WALK AWAY NOW IF YOU DONT WANT TO READ A LONG WAFFLY POST ;-)

Now seems a good chance to stand back and have a look at the way the little workhorse Zoe has performed, as yesterday was my last London shift for 2 months as they let the Lunatics out of the Westminster Asylum this weekend for summer break, so unless anything hits critical mass for the next 2 months I dont have any more work to do there till September.

So for the next 2 months the role of the Zoe will change from Workhorse tramping up and down the M1 to Summer Grand Tourer.. ! Yes SWMBO Wants to do a week touring Ireland and 2 to 3 weeks around the theme parks of Europe.

IMG_20180719_140125.jpg


So First of all the figures.

Car went into Service 15th Nov 2017 at 0 Miles on the Odometer
Broke up for the summer 19th July 2018 at 28200 on the Odometer

During this time it was off the road for 5 weeks due to issues with the onboard computer and charging system which were problematic on delivery and took a fair bit of resolving.

The car did 72 Return trips into London for work shifts (280 Miles Return) that took care of about 20k of the 28k miles. The rest on Social driving and Assignments in other parts of the country.

LIFETIME AVERAGE POWER (So Far) 4.72 Miles Per Kwh
(Has been as low as 3.6 in Winter and as high as 6.1 in Summer)

TOTAL POWER BURNT 5974 Kwh
Charging At Home 36% (2150Kwh) @ 5p Kwh Economy 7 = £107.50
Workplace & Free Public Charging 60% = £000.00
Paid Public Charging 4% = £023.90

= £131.40 for 28200 Miles

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SAVINGS AGAINST TRADITIONAL VEHICLE

72x Daily Congestion Charge Payments @ £11.50 = £828.00
72x 8 Hours Parking in Westminster P&D @ £7.35 Per Hour = £4233.60
28200 Miles @ £1.30 Litre Diesel (Avg 50MPG) = £3299.40

= £8361

Costs for same runs in a Traditional Vehicle (Based on mpg of my previous Volvo V40)

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HOW HAS THE CAR PERFORMED

Well for the first couple of months I thought I had made a huge mistake, a fault on the charging system led to the car failing to charge on rapid chargers some of the time it was intermittent and always left you with the fear you would get to a charger and it not work. This was finally diagnosed as a faulty charge socket on the front of the car and since it has been resolved it has charged flawlessly. Also there was a computer fault leading to the RLink Car computer failing and rebooting constantly during a trip, this again took multiple attempts to resolve but since its been done its been working fine..

The car is car is clearly a small "Built to a budget" supermini, but feels like a much bigger more refined car when on the road. It has not Street Cred and No Badge Snobbery, you do find the SUVs try to bully it around, but with the nippiness of an EV it soon puts them back in their place.

The car is ideal for nipping around the back streets of Soho and Westminster where larger cars struggle with narrow streets and the zombie populous. But is also at hme tramping up and down the motorways for long distances where it feels like a more competent motorway cruiser with its silent drivetrain making it a pleasure on long drives.

HOW HAS THE CAR HELD UP

Bearing in mind the miles it does in London its held up very well, it has a scuff on the lower bumper which I assume the dealer did while taking it off to replace the charge socket (But cant prove it), it has a fingernail size scuff on the back bumper which some donut did on a motorway service area while I was parked on a rapid charger and they reversed out of the space opposite and hit it. The paint otherwise is holding up some small stone chips as expected, but when its washed it still looks lovely.

The interior is holding up well, the seats which I detested when I got it (Still detest Chocolate Brown Leather) but the sliding firmness has gone and they are starting to bed in nicely now and feel like home. No cracking of the leather and no stretching, the cheap plastic interior has held up better than expected to scratches scuffs or staining. And with a bit of paper stuffed in the gaps the rattles have stopped.

WHAT DO I DISLIKE ABOUT IT

Well as I said its a cheap french supermini, so its built to a budget, its missing some features which are almost unforgivable on a modern car, (Adaptive Cruise Crontrol And Auto Emergency Braking) ok maybe thats being harsh but coming from big motorway trampers cruise in the UK is useless unless its adaptive .

The interior colours, Why o Why,. Chocolate Brown Leather With 50 Shades of Beige Plastic, I know its french but come on!! You think the stylists guide dog would have given him a nudge and said think again.

The Dealerships. They are truly awful, getting anything done is a battle with lies indifference and plain stupidity, if it had not been for the help from Renault Head Office it would have been rejected in the first couple of months. (But I am glad I stuck with it)

WHAT DO I LIKE ABOUT IT

The Cost to Run,
Its a calming car to drive (Like all EVs no road rage since moving to EV)
Nippiness and ease of use in London
Getting up every morning with 200 miles range

WOULD I BUY ANOTHER

If it was written off tomorrow I would be banging on Renaults door for a replacement,

In a years time probably not, things are changing all the time better EVs are coming on the market, as RANGE and LOW COST are my buying priorities I think there will be better options in 12 to 18 months (Hyundai Kona 64kw I am looking at you!)

HOW LONG WILL I KEEP IT

The original plan was to keep it 4 years, put about 160 to 180k on it then scrap the car and keep the battery, (As you can see from my figures above the car will have paid for itself well before the end of year 2)

I am now wavering, should I keep it for just one year, sell it with about 45k on it at the time it will still have a very good resale value, if I keep it longer it will quickly dip into the keep it the full 4 years as the mileage will be too high.

So its still up in the air, Keep it the 4 years or change in another 4 or 5 months, we will see.
 

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