Renault Zoe GT Line | Review 2020 | Is this the best Renault Zoe yet?

This week, AutoEV road test the new 2020 Zoe i GT Line R135 Z.E 50. Does this third generation of La Regie's electric supermini still take class honours? You can find lots of pre-owend REnault Zoe's for sale by clicking on autoev.co.uk and searching our classifieds.
Big thanks Renault for lending the vehicle used in this video.
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[@timaustin2000]

I'm constantly confused by this "It's a city car" stuff. My 2019 Zoe 40 went North Yorkshire to Norfolk and back without difficulty or inconvenience in December and carrying 4 passengers and all gear. Just because a car is small doesn't mean all it can do is small journeys.

[@DrazenKlisuric]

Yes people nowdays are spoiled - we went on 800km vacation trips with Polski Fiat in the summer...

[@AutoEV]

Hi Tim, yes you make a good point. We did labour the view that the car is a small “town” car when in fact it is more than capable of doing much longer journeys. Small cars these days, well, aren’t very small for a start, but they also do a much better job at driving long distances. I myself have driven small cars for years and undertaken some mammoth miles in them. And the Zoe is one of the better ones for doing it, so point well made, and taken on board.

[@frankowot4]

+1 Tim, very happy with my Zoe40.

[@wilkoone9155]

According to Bjorn Nyland's banana box test the Zoe has more room than a Kona especially in the back seats. I'm on my 2nd & we also have an ID3 the Zoe is an amazing car but make sure you have CCS charging which shouldn't be an extra.

[@itsfahys]

@@wilkoone9155 Do you know if you could carry two racing Bikes in the Back with the Front Wheels removed. I take at least 1 bike with me a lot asi do Sportives so getting a bike in would be great. Currently driving an Ioniq 28kwh bev and it easily carries my bike with back seasts down and no need to remove front wheel. Im looking for more range and Zoes 22KW AC would really benefit me in places with plenty of Type2 chargers.

[@leoclarke6462]

Fabulous review - enhanced by your wit and great presentation style

[@glideman]

Great review!

[@keithdunderdale8027]

Big software problem with pre heating and heating cabin when at charge point in cold weather also no adjustments on front seats up or down awful if you are tall due to battery under the seats to gain range

[@edwinsmith9617]

I was going to say the regen on a Zoe in D mode had the same regen as the older one and increased regen in B mode. Your brakes also are linked to regen so you use regen first and the disks are only used if you really need to slap on the anchors.

[@ianbailey2582]

I’m looking to by my first EV car, and thinking of buying a Zoe, nice, honest review, thanks

[@AutoEV]

Ian, the Zoe is a great little car. A firm favourite here at AutoEV, and good luck with your purchase if you do decide. Keep subscribed for more small car reviews however. Next one is the Skoda Citigo eiV.

[@stephenclay6852]

Hi the Zoe is a good city car but you can now buy a car that can come close to its range that gives you a lot more space and feels better made the new Kia e Niro 2 with a 39 kw battery. And if it’s as efficient as my 64 kw version it should run the range very close with a price of £29995 after the grant. I have the new 4 spec version and see with careful driving 300 miles on a full charge at this moment yes it will drop in the winter but it does have a battery heater and active thermal management for the battery.

[@keithreynolds]

But the head height airbags have been removed? ZE40 is safer? Wish I had the extra range of the 50 too! But my 40 actually achieves all I usually need whilst charging at home.

[@WonkoTheSaneUK]

The "missing" false floor can be found on the options list. The "Play" trim can't have CCS charging added.

[@EngineeringNibbles]

No CCS is a totally dumb possibility, I really hope they make it standard soon

[@piotrnapora5810]

@@EngineeringNibbles If you don't plan on leaving the city and, for example, use it as a second car, then CCS isn't necessary

[@colinphillipson4830]

You know this but @2.10 it's important and correct to use battery capacity as kilowatt hour, (kWh) and not just kilowatt (kW), that's energy/power. you say "41 and 52 kilowatts". I have a late July 2019 ZE40 one of the last built and it has the split rear seat, this only happened for 2019 builds. You failed to mention that the car retains the fast 22kW AC charging and the rapid DC CCS is a £1000 extra option. I agree that the drivers seat is too flat with no support and my right leg just can't get comfortable and I'm only 5"7". If the ZE40 could be retrofitted with that 50kW DC CCS I would be satisfied.

[@antwnpowell]

In certain parts of france like Paris, and meet all the criteria, you can get a subsidy of 17k € on one of these and 22 kwh type 2 chargers are everywhere in france.

[@sevesellors2831]

Great review nice car but prefer the 208 although the ID3 keeps appearing in the rear view mirror. Hopefully prices and range will get better by 2030. But........... the Zoe has a great range so for the price impressive.

[@sandyritchie287]

Nailed it on the boot trim. Zoe used to be cheap, so partially trimmed boot was acceptable (well barely), the car is closer to £30k in top trim and boot is still partially trimmed.

[@AutoEV]

Hi Sandy, yes, it is quite glaring when you look in the boot how much bare metal there is there, which is even more disappointing when you realise how high a quality the interior is. Still, its a great car.

[@heinuchung8680]

this man has a really nice voice. Who is he? Where is he from scotland or highland?

[@AutoEV]

Originally from Scotland. He's lived in the south of England now for 20 years, but he still talks like that I'm afraid........

[@mikeuk4130]

I think you can get the 135 motor on the middle trim too. Such a pity Renault launched the new range earlier in the year, showing LHD cars with a very nice tweedy/flecked fabric on the dash which was then dropped from the RHD cars. Way better than plastic, and added a touch of luxury snd/or cuteness factor which the Mini will have. Bad move, Renault.

[@electriccars-EV]

Cool video @​AutoEV.... Can`t find you on my sublist. Have you been able to check? Are we friends?

[@stevesinclair1791]

Look up Euro NCAP safety/crash testing for the Zoe (latest tests)👎

[@AutoEV]

@Steve admittedly yes, the Zoe has fared badly, but our test was carried out in 2020. The latest Euro NCAP tests were just last month and their parameters have changed since we drove the car. Although, all of that being said, it is something Renault need to address.

[@KJSvitko]

Electric vehicles are just better. No noise, no emissions, less fuel costs, less maintenance costs.

[@frankowot4]

Robert Llewellyn's brother?

[@AutoEV]

Who's Robert Llewellyn.....? (just kidding, but no, I'm not.)

[@itsfahys]

@@AutoEV Hes the guy who cant pronounce his Welsh Name correctly LoL

[@PNH750]

I bought my GT Line R135 Zoe to use on 150 mile trips to London and back. Winter arrived and the cold ended any chance of a non-recharge trip unless the heater was not used and top speed was 50mph. You have to pay a lot extra for CCS charging to be enabled on the car plus a fortune for a high speed home charger. Also I do not understand why this very expensive car is not fitted with a forward facing camera as standard.

[@nigelweir3852]

Mini needs bigger battery

[@AutoEV]

Don’t disagree with you Nigel, although I am running the MINI Electric as a long-term test car and for the most, I can get away with the limited range. I have a big journey to undertake this week with the car, so it will be interesting to see how it does.

[@essizserkan]

A car is Nothing without a proper service support. My Renault’s battery lost 25% capacity at 45000 kms , 35% at 65000 kms... And Renault still resists to accept its own warranty promise for the battery since then... Look for another brand you can rely on the service of.

[@AutoEV]

That's disappointing to hear. Have you spoken with Renault's customer service team?

[@essizserkan]

@@AutoEV I'm talking to them since the beginning. They are trying to sell the battery pack for 8000 euros plus vat, or pushing rental to prevent cost to Renault. Totally unethical but I met with many similar cases in a facebook group of Renault-EV-users, it seems a planned approach. Therefore people must know before they invest to Renault.

[@AutoEV]

@@essizserkan really sorry to hear that you have had this issue. We hope it gets resolved soon for you, and please let us know.

[@nigelweir3852]

Mini electric is a tragic ev , 5 years late

[@AutoEV]

No, sorry, I can’t agree with that. The MINI is brilliant at what it does, and as a driver’s car, there is little to touch it in this class. Fast, grippy, brilliant chassis and so communicative its untrue. I think we need to stop viewing EVs on range and environmental, and start looking at them like we do internal combustion engined cars. Really, other than having a manual gearbox, I couldn’t recommend a petrol engined Cooper S over the Electric.

[@alanhowemusic2457]

Waste of time buying this car. Seats can’t be height adjusted, head restraints can not be removed. Rear windows aren’t electronic or mechanically operated to wind down only clasp opening. Renault are having a laugh when they say this car is only £30,000 on the road. This is basically a city car with occasional Motorway driving and at £30,000 on the road it’s extremely overpriced. Renault a justifying the price due to the increased fully charged battery range of 260 miles but as we all know batteries don’t charge well in the winter so you will be lucky to achieve a full charge in the winter with a range of 160 miles. By the way if you want the fast charging CCS on the car this don’t come standard on most trims so if you want this fitted it will cost you a further £1,000. Come on Renault this car is so grossly overpriced. We the general public will not put up with this on the road price considering what the spec of the car is.

[@jamesstanley7263]

Why do you want to remove the front headrests? The rears are definitely removable

[@philippelebreton2356]

La gt line c'est chez peugeot ! Et tu te dis expert!

[@AutoEV]

Bonjour Phillipe. Sur le marché britannique, la Zoe a un niveau de finition GT Line au sommet de sa gamme, et c'est la voiture que nous avions. Nous reconnaissons que d'autres marchés auront des noms de niveau de finition différents, mais comme nous utilisons des voitures de bureaux de presse britanniques, ce sont les voitures que nous présentons. J'espère que cela clarifie cela pour vous.

[@philippelebreton2356]

@@AutoEV excusez moi et merci de vos informations

[@nigelweir3852]

Seats perfectly ok , maybe you should look at your diet

[@AutoEV]

Harsh......

[@missfunk5]

@@AutoEV i was thinking that , bit harsh.

[@lornamclellan1492]

How very rude!