Renault Zoe Z.E. Concept review

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Renault Zoe Z.E. Concept First Drive

Test date 27 October 2009 Price as tested TBA

: Large gullwing door opens to allow access to front and rear

What is it?

Zoe is the most advanced of Renault’s new family of four battery-powered models shown recently at the Frankfurt show to publicise the company’s position as a leader in electric car technology.

This one, a gull-winged supermini slightly larger than a current Clio, is the only one of the Regie quartet which doesn’t look as it will in production (due before the end of 2012). That's because the company’s hyperactive designers have used it as a reporitory for electric-car ideas they’ve been storing up for ages.

What's it like?

It’s a teardrop-shaped, front-drive supermini-sized four-seater, with one huge gullwing door each side giving access to front and rear compartments at once.

The engine packs 94bhp, develops 167lb ft of torque from standstill, and can propel this 1400kg-plus machine at speeds close to 90mph.

Driving is a bit iffy – this prototype was the least resolved of the Renault quartet – but you still get the sense of powerful step-off torque, near silence and impressive smoothness, spoiled a bit by rattles and squeaks typical of a prototype, and yet-unresolved suspension and steering systems. It’ll come.

Still, the interior details are amazing. Every seat looks different, the looming fascia architecture is like no production car, and its central screen features an avatar (ours looked and sounded like Fernando Alonso), who gives you energy-saving hints as you drive, and admonishes you if you make a mistake.

Boot access is through twin rear doors, both hinged down the rear spine of the car. Inside of the usual double-fold hatchback’s rear seats, each of the rear seat backrests hinges rearwards into the body sides, a brilliantly simple solution.

The roof is transparent and carries solar cells which feed the car’s ancillary systems, and the battery is chargeable in situ with either household or three-phase power, or exchangable for a fresh one at one of the new Quickdrop centres that Renault intends to establish.

Should I buy one?

No chance, I’m afraid. There’ll be something like this on the market in 2012, but you’ll never get the gullwing doors (too cumbersome and expensive) and some of the interior stuff is just too outlandish to live a life in production. But some of the design will survive. The name, too, could make it onto a High Street near you.