UK sales of Renault’s two best-selling EVs, the Renault Zoe hatchback and Kangoo van, are set to rise by around 50 per cent in 2014.
The company is marking the achievement by offering future buyers the chance to buy their cars’ batteries outright rather than insisting that they lease them with a monthly payment.
The move is expected to generate another sales kick, especially in the fleet sector. Zoes and Kangoos bought under the new 'full purchase' scheme will carry special 'i' badging to underscore the fact that their residual value is different from cars with leased batteries.
Although battery leasing has been controversial in some quarters, Renault is anxious to point out that it will continue because it suits many customers and brings extra safeguards, such as recovery if the car is immobilised on the open road because the battery has run out of charge.
Between now and the end of January, Renault is also lowering battery leasing costs, typically from £70 to £50 a month for a Zoe that does 7500 miles a year.
This lower monthly cost is about equal to the cost of fuelling an equivalent diesel car for 6650 miles, Renault claims. If owners chose to buy the battery instead of leasing it, the price of the Zoe rises from £13,995 to £18,995, including the government's EV grant.
Renault UK’s managing director, Ken Ramirez, who has presided over 19 straight months of above-market sales growth since the company dropped some of its less successful models, is confident that the new EV marketing moves – plus a correction of the Zoe’s most fundamental problem, dashboard reflections on the windscreen – will allow “healthy sales growth” of EV models to continue.
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Never Made Sense
There is no mention of price but if they can get it right and compete head to head with diesel and petrol cars they simply won't be able to build these fast enough. Every family with two cars will want one to be a Zoe. Every tradesman will want the van; especially with the prospect of older diesels being banned this couldn't come at a better time.
What's the price difference?
Good move