The Renault Zoe has set a new ‘personal record’ when it comes to covering distances on one battery charge. The Zoe covered more than 765 km during a record attempt before the battery really had no life left in it.
The Renault Zoe does not set a world record by far, but it is still nice to reflect on this record. It is in fact one of several attempts that manufacturers themselves are making to see what the absolute maximum of their technology is. Think, for example, of Hyundai, which covered more than 1,000 km with a Kona Electric on one battery charge, or more recently the new worldwide record that Toyota took with the Mirai.
Renault wanted to see what really is the maximum possible with the Zoe. The previous ‘personal record’ was just under 550 km, dating from 2018 and set on the roads around Paris. For the new record attempt, a British team took to the track with two Zoe’s at Thruxton Park. One with special ENSO ‘range-extender’ tires on it, the other just on the standard tyres. The first copy came to no less than 765 km, the second lasted more than 683 km. Both cars were (except for those ENSO tires) completely standard according to Renault. With an average speed of about 30 km/h it was not exactly fast in both cases, but hey, the goal was to get far.