The Renault Zoe, a top-selling electric car available across Europe, has just had its base lease price cut to £189 in the UK (with a £1,000 deposit). Additionally, “lower mileage users” can now lease the battery for as low as £45 per month—this is with a 3-year contract and no more than 3,000 miles per year.
The Zoe was launched last June in the UK. Renault notes that the Zoe is now competitive with comparable fossil fuel drinkers. “For example, not only does it cost only 2 pence per mile to run, from £13,995 on-the-road it also undercuts the comparable diesel version of the country’s best-selling Ford Fiesta, in 5-door Style TDCi 75 guise, in terms of upfront cost, by £300, even with a superior level of standard equipment.”
Frankly, I think the Zoe looks very sharp, even better in real life than in pictures. It’s no BMW i8, but it’s a good car available at a very competitive price. If I were in the UK and looking for a car, it would certainly be a contender.
The low lease price is part of a new package that is available until the end of March. Here are more details on the new package as well as other benefits that Renault offers its Zoe customers:
The new package sees the stylish ZOE Dynamique available, until 31st March 2014, on Renault Selections PCP from £189 per month, with a deposit of just £1,720, including a £1,000 customer deposit contribution. That’s on top of its comprehensive Renault 4+ package, worth over £1,000, which includes 4 years/100,000 miles warranty, roadside assistance and routine servicing (4 years/48,000 miles).
Plus, from this month, the creative automaker is also enticing car buyers with Selections 500. The new customer loyalty incentive, which includes ZOE, guarantees £500 as a part-exchange bonus towards a new Renault model at the end of a customer’s finance contract.
Unlike some rivals who require users to shell out hundreds of pounds on a charging solution, Renault also includes a 7kW single Wallbox, which charges ZOE in three to four hours, for free at domestic properties in the UK*. Add all of these savings up and a typical ZOE buyer could be over £2,500 better off, even before taking into account the associated Benefit-in-Kind, road tax and congestion charge benefits of running an electric vehicle.
A representative finance offer for Renault ZOE Dynamique Intens or Dynamique Zen is:
48 monthly payments of £189 including VAT (excludes £45 battery hire, based on 36 months/3,000 miles per year)
Customer deposit £1,720
On-the-road price £15,195
Deposit contribution £1,000
Total amount to be financed £13,475
Acceptance fee £99
Optional final payment £6,005
Credit facility fee £139
Option to purchase fee £10
Total amount payable by customer £17,045
Rate of interest (fixed) per annum 7.02%
Representative 7.7%
Total rental £234 (including £45 per month battery hire)
Making the switch to electric motoring does not have to be tricky. In fact, one of the greatest benefits of choosing a ZOE is peace-of-mind. The battery hire contract includes a battery performance guarantee, whereby if, for any reason, its operation falls below 75% of its original capacity, it will simply be repaired or replaced, regardless of the vehicle’s age or mileage. In the unlikely event that a customer runs out of charge, cover is also included to take them to a chargepoint. Renault has a national network of EV-ready dealerships, every one of which has charging solutions, and the national network of charging points is growing by the day. For full details, see www.renault.co.uk/chargemap.
Building on the current success of the ZOE Scalextric™ viral video which has already attracted over 400,000 views, plus its small screen appearances as part of Renault’s exciting design-led ‘Animal Attraction’ sponsorship of the Jonathan Ross Show, the company’s flagship electric vehicle will also be taking to the virtual world shortly, through tie-ups with MSN, mumsnet and T3 to name but a few.
Back in the real world, using Renault’s “Life Designed” theme, ZOE will also be looking to draw in the crowds with its svelte lines as it appears in the metal at Westfield shopping centres across the UK.
Image: Renault Zoe at EVS27 in Barcelona, Spain. (CC BY-SA license, with the key requirement being that credit be given to Zachary Shahan / EV Obsession / CleanTechnica, and that those links not be removed.)