Renault offers Zoe, Kangoo ZE to private buyers

BY JUSTIN HILLIARD | 10th Jul 2018

RENAULT Australia has this week extended sales of its Zoe and Kangoo ZE electric vehicles (EVs) to private buyers after the pair were exclusively offered to businesses and governments from late last year.

The Zoe light hatch is available in two grades, with the entry-level Life priced from $51,990, while the flagship Intens commands a $2550 premium. Both quoted prices are driveaway nationally.

Meanwhile, the Kangoo ZE small van is offered with a single Maxi grade, which starts from $52,527 in the Melbourne metro area.

Speaking to GoAuto this week at the official opening of the world-first Alliance National Distribution Centre in Truganina, Victoria, Renault Australia managing director Andrew Moore cautioned that the Zoe and Kangoo EV are not expected to best-sellers.

“We were never going to aim for huge volumes. We know that the take-up for EVs is low still, but we’re actually ahead of our targeted volumes at this stage,” he said.

“We sold 10 EVs last month. We were really just dabbling at three or four a month, so we’ve been tracking above that.”

Mr Moore added that despite the challenges EVs currently face, particularly in Australia, their potential is promising, with local government incentives to play a key role in their sales growth if introduced.

“We’re just looking for some incremental growth, but I think EVs have got a massive future, even in this country,” he said.

“It’s growing enormously overseas – the government subsidies seem to be the key thing at the moment with price.

“I think we’re realistic at the moment that without (Australian) government subsidies, it’s not going to be huge volumes, so we’re preparing for the future with our plan at the moment.”

As previously reported, select Renault dealerships in Australia have become EV-certified, with salespeople and technicians receiving specific training to sell and service the specialised vehicles.

When questioned why the Zoe and Kangoo ZE were only available to businesses and governments from launch, Mr Moore explained that the then size of Renault Australia’s dealer network was a deciding factor.

“The reason we (initially) went with the fleet model … was because we had a smaller network (of EV-certified dealerships) … but now that we’re going to have a larger network, the retail model is much more feasible. We’ve been working on that for a couple of months,” he said.

Private buyer interest also had some impact on the decision to offer the Zoe and Kangoo ZE more broadly, according to Mr Moore.

“There’s definitely interest, but I think we saw there was a fleet possibility in each of those (metro) markets, so if that justifies the investment for the dealer and the ongoing activity for the dealer, so that they stay up to speed … then by enabling that network, we can then consider the retail model.

“It’s more giving people access to the new technologies … but also preparing for the future. Every year we’re going to have better product, so when the time comes, the product is probably closer than what the customer requires. We’d rather be skilled and ready to be a leader in the space.”

Both the Zoe and Kangoo ZE come with a five-year/100,000km warranty for their battery packs, while a three-year/unlimited-kilometre term covers the rest of the vehicles.

The Zoe features a 68kW/220Nm electric motor and a 41kWh battery pack, which provides 400km of driving range, or about 300km of real-world usage in summer conditions.

Comparatively, the Kangoo ZE includes a 44kW/225Nm electric motor and a 33kWh battery pack, which delivers about 200km of real-world driving range.

2018 Renault Zoe driveaway pricing (national)