Keep your lead. Launched well ahead of its competitors in the great adventure of the battery-powered vehicle, Renault is now focusing on its new ZOE to maintain its leadership in Europe. The tricolor builder has just introduced the third generation of his flagship model in electromobility , which will be marketed from next September. “We have done a fairly heavy renewal,” says Gilles Normand, director of the electric vehicle in the Losange.
Modernized interior
In reality, the “look” outside the small city battery has not moved enough. “Design remains ZOE’s first reason for buying,” says Gilles Normand. The lines were simply reinforced, and some modified details (logo, light signature …). The interior, on the other hand, has undergone a real life style. State-of-the-art screens, more opulent materials, the ZOE has seriously modernized its cabin.
Its electrical and electronic architecture has also been completely renewed, which will enable it to offer new systems for driving assistance or entertainment. Above all, its battery and engine have been replaced: its range will increase from 300 to 390 kilometers (in WLTP standards), and its 100 kW engine will allow it to go from 0 to 100 km / h in less than 10 seconds.
It is with this modernized version of the ZOE that Renault is preparing to face future competition. In particular, Peugeot e-208, Opel Corsa-e or Volkswagen ID3 electric city cars, which are expected in dealerships from autumn 2019. Its price will be “reasonable”, says Gilles Normand. It has already been announced at 23,900 euros in Germany (excluding subsidy and battery).
Forerunner of the market
The Losange has long been almost alone in the market with the ZOE, launched in 2012. Forerunner with Nissan in the electric vehicle, the group and its ally have invested more than 4 billion euros in electromobility, and persevered while sales were struggling to take off . It was not until 2016 and the doubling of autonomy with a new battery, as well as subsidies to purchase (especially in France), to see the curve to bend finally: with 40,000 ZOE sold last year (bringing the total since 2012 to 133,000), Renault has captured 22% of a European market however still anecdotal in 2018.
In the first six months of 2019, sales increased another 45% to 25,700 units. The Losange also relies on the experience of its network to continue to boost sales. “We have 30,000 employees trained to answer questions, 15 battery repair centers in Europe …: ten years of work! “Insists Gilles Normand.
Run-in industrial device
Renault says that its lead already allows it to make your electric vehicles profitable – even if the margin is not yet at the level of that of the whole group. “It’s hard to verify. But it is possible, if the development investments were spent at the time, as Carlos Ghosn had then said, “says Gaëtan Toulemonde, analyst at Deutsche Bank.
The industrial device in any case is run-in: the ZOE is assembled in Flins (Yvelines) and its engine manufactured in Cléon (Seine-Maritime), two factories whose lines have been running since 2013, and whose capacities in electrical are currently worn to more than 100,000 units. Meanwhile the common platform developed with Nissan for the electric vehicle: it must allow the Japanese ally to produce the successor of the Leaf from 2020, and that of the Zoe one or two years later.
The Electric Mini, on the roads in March 2020
Mini presented its electric version on Tuesday, which should be delivered in March 2020. The brand, which belongs to the BMW group, will continue to offer gasoline and hybrid versions. Sold 24,400 pounds (about 27,200 euros), the electric Mini will be produced on the British site of the group in Oxford, and its battery on that of Dingolfing, Germany. The group relies on this new version to boost sales, which fell 2.8% in 2018 (to 361,500 units), and still 4% in the first five months of 2019.