Renault Kangoo ZE electric van may arrive

Renault said the van has a range of 170km and the rechanging time is four hours
Neil Dowling

Contributing Journalist

2 min read

Renault is looking to launch its Kangoo ZE - an all-electric version of its Kangoo small-class van - here.

The French company, which is poised to debut its Fluence ZE sedan in the next few months, said the Kangoo ZE (for zero emissions) is an eco-friendly model that will match the running costs of the existing petrol-engined version.

One of the vehicle's advantages is the reduced maintenance cost, with estimated savings of 20 per cent. These savings come from dispensing with oil changes, timing belts, air filters or fuel filters.

Running costs are also cut by a dramatic reduction in fuel bills, with the actual cost per km dependent on electricity prices in various areas. Renault is coy about the price of the van when it gets here but, based on the European price, could be about $27,000. 

However, Renault leases the batteries in its all-electric vehicles which may have a cost of $100 a month. The Kangoo ZE has a 44kW/226Nm electric motor under the bonnet and a 22kWh lithium-ion battery pack under the floor just behind the front seats. 

Renault said the van has a range of 170km and the rechanging time is four hours or, via a fast charger station, one hour will give a 20km range. The payload is 650kg and the load volume ranges from 3cu.m to 3.5cu.m. Renault says the recharging time, using a wall-mounted Renault charger, is between six and eight hours.

Neil Dowling

Contributing Journalist

GoAutoMedia Cars have been the corner stone to Neil’s passion, beginning at pre-school age, through school but then pushed sideways while he studied accounting. It was rekindled when he started contributing to magazines including Bushdriver and then when he started a motoring section in Perth’s The Western Mail. He was then appointed as a finance writer for the evening Daily News, supplemented by writing its motoring column. He moved to The Sunday Times as finance editor and after a nine-year term, finally drove back into motoring when in 1998 he was asked to rebrand and restyle the newspaper’s motoring section, expanding it over 12 years from a two-page section to a 36-page lift-out. In 2010 he was selected to join News Ltd’s national motoring group Carsguide and covered national and international events, launches, news conferences and Car of the Year awards until November 2014 when he moved into freelancing, working for GoAuto, The West Australian, Western 4WDriver magazine, Bauer Media and as an online content writer for one of Australia’s biggest car groups. He has involved himself in all aspects including motorsport where he has competed in everything from motocross to motorkhanas and rallies including Targa West and the ARC Forest Rally. He loves all facets of the car industry, from design, manufacture, testing, marketing and even business structures and believes cars are one of the few high-volume consumables to combine a very high degree of engineering enlivened with an even higher degree of emotion from its consumers.
About Author

Comments