Renault Zoe EV – Revealed in Geneva

Every respectable car manufacturer has an all-electric vehicle available for purchase. Renault just got into this group by revealing the Zoe at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. Being an electric vehicle, there are three questions that pop to mind: “What’s the range?”, “What’s the price?” and “What’s the recharge time?”.

The range is set to about 210 km, or 131 miles under normal conditions, but according to the French engineers, can go as low as 62 miles under hard winter conditions. The top speed is a not-too-impressive 135 km/h (84.3 mph). The power that’s delivered by the electric motor is 88 horsepower and 220 Nm of torque.

There isn’t yet a recharging facility available for the Zoe, but the battery can be refilled at home with any power outlet. Recharge time varies between 30 minutes (when a special station is used, and the power isn’t all drained out) and 9 hours (when the battery is completely empty, and a regular power outlet is being used). Apart from that, the Zoe also automatically recharges by using the braking energy.

At 20.700 euros, this is the cheapest electric vehicle on the market. By adding options such as air quality sensors, Teflon seats or a HiFi 3D audio system, the price climbs as high as 22.500 euros.