The ZOE is the fourth vehicle in the first wave of electric Renaults, joining the Kangoo ZE (not described in this magazine because we don't do vans), the Fluence ZE (rather good even though it's not much more than a converted Megane) and the Twizy (weird) in this sub-range.It's a slightly odd-looking and controversially named supermini with an 88bhp electric motor that can get you from a standstill to 30mph in four seconds without you doing anything other than tramping on the accelerator pedal. In this and other ways it is extremely easy to drive in the city, requiring very little effort and making hardly any noise at all.It shares this with every other electric car I've driven. On board the ZOE, I gazed in confused awe at other vehicles with internal comubstion engines and multi-ratio gearboxes and wondered why anyone would bother with such outmoded technology.Don't misunderstand me. I think engines are wonderful. The fact that humans can make hundreds of small parts and join them together to make a coherent unit that is able, when you pour fuel into it, to create as much power as is needed to drive a car, bus, lorry, train or ship is one that delights me every time I think about it.I love engines. But I also love cats, and I don't see the point of being carried noisily through city streets by them either.Once you're up to 30mph the test car felt a little bumpy, and the effect grew as I took it out of town. Its optional 17" wheels (15s or 16s are standard) probably had a lot to do with that, and I'd be inclined to avoid them.Apart from that, the motorway experience was fine. The ZOE is quite happy to bowl along at 70, and if you are a wicked person you might be tempted to take up to its maximum of 84. It's advisable to make sure that you've deselected Eco mode, since that limits the top speed to 60, and I don't know about you but I'd feel safer being able to exceed that if I needed to scamper away from a difficult or dangerous situation.Luggage space is quite good at 388 litres with the rear seats in place - that's 62 more than in the Ford Fiesta, which is four and a half inches shorter. There's not quite so much room for rear passengers. If I try to "sit behind myself" I can get in, but my knees are jammed into the front seats and my head into the roof. Still, four adults of up to six feet in height should be able to manage okay.Two common complaints: rear visibility isn't good, and there's no spare wheel. Instead, you have to make do with a tyre repair kit. Ugh.Both this car and the mostly identical Dynamique Zen, which differs only in its interior colour scheme, have quite a bit more equipment than the entry-level Expression, including 16" rather than 15" wheels (unless you upgrade as mentioned previously), a hands-free key card, a rear parking camera, a better sound system, floor mats, all-round electric windows, automatic headlights and wipers, storage pockets on the rear of the front passenger seat, leather on the steering wheel and gearknob and a facility for remotely charging the battery and activating the heater.(That last feature is worth investigating. Even on full blast at the highest temperature setting, the heater takes a long time to pass anything more welcome than lukewarm air into the cabin.)For all this you pay £15,195, which is somewhat lower than might otherwise be the case thanks to the Government's Plug-In Car Grant but also a little higher than was quoted before the ZOE was launched last year. The battery isn't included, thanks to a Renault policy which has attracted criticism but does at least mean that if it goes phut it's not your problem.Instead, you lease the battery at a monthly rate which varies according to your annual mileage and how long you decide up front to keep the car. If you commit to three years and restrict yourself to 7500 miles between Christmases (the latter a feasible scenario for a car best suited to city work and not claimed even by its maker to be able to do more than 90 miles from one recharge to the next), you'll pay £70 a time, or £2520 over the whole period.Exact comparisons are difficult, but a diesel or petrol car averaging 40mpg - not necessarily easy to achieve in predominantly urban motoring - would at today's prices cost over £3000 to fuel in the same circumstances. Of course, you still have to pay for the ZOE's electricity, but even if you don't have access to a free charging point you'd have to be going some to spend more than £500 per annum on that.A less attractive option at the other end of the scale is to cough up £113 a month for a single year and the right to drive 12,000 miles. I suppose it's fair enough for Renault to offer this, but if that's the kind of motoring you expect to do the ZOE probably isn't high on your "want" list in the first place. Engine electric motor Power 88bhp Transmission single-speed CO2 0g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 13.5 seconds Top speed 84mph Price £15,195 (see text) Details correct at publication date
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