Following the announcement of the changes to the Government Plug-in Car Grant (PiCG) and Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme, Renault is to continue its unique customer offer of supplying a free fully-installed fast-charging wallbox to new Zoe customers.

The 7kW charging wallbox is supplied and installed by Renault’s partner, Chargemaster, at the customer’s domestic address as part of the price of the Renault Zoe. Chargemaster is the UK’s most successful supplier and operator of charging equipment, having shipped more than 45,000 charging points in the last five years across the UK and nine European countries from its dedicated UK-based manufacturing facilities. This offer is unique in the UK electric vehicle market place and tops-up the Government grant towards a domestic charger, saving the customer nearly £500.

As of March 1, the Office Low Emission Vehicles has revised the PiCG support for the three pre-existing categories 2 and now gives the greatest financial incentive to vehicles that emit 0g/km CO₂ and have a zero emission range of 70 miles or over. Zoe is in category 1 as it exceeds these criteria and therefore attracts the maximum £4,500 support level.  Vehicles in categories 2 and 3 now receive £2,500 – under the previous PiCG rules all categories received the same £5,000 amount.

The Chargemaster 7kW Homecharge unit allows Zoe owners to charge their vehicle from flat to full in three to four hours at their home. Using the My ZE Inter@ctive timer app customers are able to schedule the time that Zoe is charged and benefit from significantly lower off-peak electricity prices.

Ben Fletcher, Electric Vehicle Product Manager, Groupe Renault UK, said: “The Electric Vehicle market is growing at an unprecedented rate, and a big part of that is customers discovering just how cost-effective and easy to live with these cars are. By continuing to provide a home-charging unit installed at the customer’s address, we’re able to ensure that these points are even stronger for the Zoe than the competition, with customers able to fully charge in just three to four hours at home as standard.”

Zoe is fitted with a patented Chameleon™ charger that, unlike other EVs, always allows the car to make the best use of whatever charging supply is available in order to speed up charging times. Zoe Dynamique Nav Rapid Charge can charge at up to 43kW, meaning that 0 to 80 per cent full can be achieved in as little as 30 minutes, depending on version. Zoe customers benefit from six months’ free membership to the POLAR Plus network, the UK’s largest public network offering access to over 4,000 charging points that span from 3kW-22kW. The Zoe is also able to make full use of nearly 600 rapid AC chargers installed at key nationwide locations, such as motorway service stations.

The Zoe is an all-electric, five-door supermini available in three trim levels that comes with a high level of standard specification, including items such as climate control and sat-nav.