Here's the real Zoe. 100 mile range. 84 mph top speed. 30 minute charge time on 63A three phase. Battery swap. Reportedly £13,000 plus battery lease. Forget the Leaf - this is the game changer in Europe.
I just read the Renault site you linked to. Seems a bit confused (eg 400V - 36A - is that 63A in reverse?). Where did you get your more specific details, especially the price?
Bit of a wait: Like the panoramic glass roof (although it better be solar reflective so as not to bake the occupants!)
Or use some PV to keep the car cool. BTW, is this 2 door or 4 ? Apparently Renault is trying some doors without the handle. They just open when you touch it !
Four doors and a hatch. You can see a hint of the door handles, though most (if not all) of these images are renderings.
The quoted charge times would indicate 22 kWh. I'd assumed it would be Nissan's battery, but a story on ABG today says Renault have just done a big deal with LG Chem. I had an email directly from Renault UK saying that the ZOE will get 63A charging (the first model in the range to do so when it goes on sale in 2012). The price has been rumoured in many stories and is given credence by the "slightly cheaper than an equivalent diesel" statements. The Clio 1.5 dCi costs £13190. If you look at the top down shot above, or the photo of it charging in the gallery, you can see the rear door handles, but as Doug says, these are renderings anyway. The real deal is here - and you can clearly see the rear handles:
Just had an email back from Renault to say thanks for pointing out the typo on the charging and indeed they have now updated the website to read 63A. By the way, TEG's link above claims a 0-60 time of 8.1 seconds. That seems a bit ambitious but very welcome if true.
Just picked up this week's copy of Autocar and there is an interesting piece about the Zoe. It goes into more detail than the online version. One detail is the £13500 price with £70 per month battery lease, roughly what we'd heard above. The second was a quote that made me smile... Tell that to the Stig... By the way, the journos are falling head over heels for it and the argument that has broken out on the discussion board is nothing to do with the drive train (is that some sort of turning point?) I really think Renault have got a massive hit on their hands here. It can't come soon enough.
Overall nice design but of course some items will be dropped and some will be kept. How will Tesla fare in the "mass market" electric car arena if every other manufacture like Renault is pushing concepts?
I really like the glass roof but I doubt it will make it to production. Actual car will probably have typical door latches as well. The car is supposed to be about 80% of what we'll see.
I have seen a glass roof on a Scion (Toyota Yaris) last month. Why would that be difficult? Secondly, the retracting door handles have always been a "Wow" point, and seem to be quite in demand for the Model S. I also see some skepticism for 19" rims, when it seems to be a factory option for many upper end cars. Why would Tesla, considered to be competition, not have a glass roof, or retracting handles, or a 19" option? I think you folk are wrong.