Introduction

Sometimes a ground-breaking product catches on, and sometimes it doesn’t. But that doesn’t necessarily make it any less ground-breaking. The Renault Zoe is such a product: the first fully electric supermini on the market, made of lightweight materials to help improve battery range and able to manoeuvre around cities as well as any comparable petrol-powered car. There’s now a longer-range battery option, too.

Did you know? A new 40kw battery extends the Zoe’s driving range to as much as 250 miles between charges.

Verdict | Design | Interior | Technology | Performance | Safety | Specs | Running Costs | Pricing

Verdict:★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ (6/10)

The Zoe is a car that desperately wants to succeed. It tries to do everything right, from comfort to driveability to space to running costs. Ultimately, it doesn’t quite get there, but still puts up a decent fight if you fit the (admittedly limited) core buyer profile. It scores well for the novelty factor of its excellent drivetrain but doesn’t really make financial sense for anyone outside London. The Zoe makes a brilliant fist of urban driving aside from its silly ‘voice’ feature, but money talks, so as a new buy it’s not quite there yet.