Range extender

The award-winning all-electric Renault Kangoo Z.E has been revised. Richard Gooding finds out if the small French LCV can handle longer journeys as well as the shorter distance trips it may be more used to

We’re no strangers to the Renault Kangoo Z.E. at GreenFleet. The all-electric version of Renault’s small LCV panel van has won the GreenFleet Electric Van of the Year award twice, and we tested the five-seat Maxi Crew version back in 2012. Renault added an electric powertrain to its popular Kangoo back in 2011 and it soon became the top‑selling plug-in electric vehicle in France.

It naturally suits the cut and thrust of the city landscape and with refreshed new looks, we wanted to find out if it cope with something a little more challenging. Something like a 60-mile maximum daily commute for example. Just how viable and practical is the Kangoo Z.E. in daily use?

106-mile range
My commute involves a mixture of A-roads and it was with more than a little trepidation I awaited the loan Kangoo Z.E.’s arrival. Its officially quoted 106‑mile range (78 miles in temperate conditions) should more than cover the daily maximum 60-mile distance, but the real‑world use figure would invariably include fewer miles. I could charge it at work on the office three-pin plug, so it wasn’t as fearsome a range anxiety experience as it may well have been.

HN13 XZF arrived with 59 miles of range showing on its trip computer. At a severe push, that would cover the distance home from the office and the journey in the following day. Driving an EV demands a different, more careful, driving style and when it comes to range, that’s exactly what an EV demands.

I’d planned to use A-roads the majority of the time during the week, with a couple of M25 routes thrown in towards the end of the loan. With careful driving and using the harsh regenerative braking to its maximum, I arrived home with 44 miles of range remaining, having covered 26 miles. On paper, I should have had 33 miles of range left, but I had actually gained 11 miles.

OK, that first journey was taking the eco settings to the maximum. The Kangoo Z.E. – like all Kangoos – has an ‘Eco Mode’ which limits engine output and associated power‑sapping ancillaries and is said to increase range by 10 per cent. To let the Kangoo Z.E. perform to the best of its abilities, this was turned on for most of my time with the van. On the first trip, the heating was turned off as it wasn’t needed and the radio was left off, too – partly to enjoy the feeling of silence and calm an EV gives you.

The rest of the week continued in much the same vein with range gains made on four days out of the six-day test period. Obviously, that gain is less the more ancillaries you use. A spell of inclement weather meant heater and wiper use and even with the radio turned on, a six-mile minimum range gain was possible.

Driving the Kangoo is like any other EV. The synchronous electric motor has 166lb ft (226Nm) of torque which provides plenty of accelerative force. There is 44kW of power – equivalent to 60bhp – and the Kangoo Z.E. never feels underpowered, despite its 1,426kg unladen weight. Easy to drive, the Kangoo handles as you would expect a van to. There is some body roll and obviously while no sports car, it feels relatively fun to drive, soaking up road imperfections well and bringing a little joie de vivre to proceedings.

The 195/65 R15 low resistance tyres are quiet and it’s the same story for the Kangoo’s overall experience – it’s still quite different driving a vehicle with no engine noise and just a whine from an all-electric powertrain.

Simple charging
Charging the Kangoo Z.E.’s 22kwh lithium‑ion battery is done in the same way as other electric vehicles and is simplicity itself. Just pop the front socket open behind the Renault diamond badge at the front of the Kangoo and you’re ready to dock the plug. The van comes with a four-metre long 16A IEC 62196 Type 2 Mennekes charging cable as standard for plugging into Renault’s recommended wall‑box charger or recharging stations when on the move. A six-metre long cable of the same type is available for an additional £90.

All of my charging was carried out through the optional £495 EVSE Cable, which is suitable for 10-amp charging with a domestic 3-pin plug socket. This ultimately takes longer (a full charge is 13 hours, rather than the six to eight hours of the Mennekes cable), but after six to seven hours, the Kangoo was up to 75 miles of range and ready to go once more. While I used daytime hours for topping up the small Renault LCV’s battery, business users can utilise off-peak hour charging cycles, therefore saving costs due to the proliferation of cheaper energy tariffs. Renault states that charging could cost as little as £1.32 per charging cycle.

A three-year subscription to My Z.E. Connect costs £76.80 and allows smartphone viewing of the current battery charge state, the time remaining for a full charge, as well as the current range remaining. A pre-heating function is standard and an additional heating unit powered by petrol housed in a 13-litre tank is available for £702.

Practical benefits
Onto the practical benefits. In its smallest form as tested here, the Kangoo has a load volume of 3.4m3 and a 650kg payload. That’s on a par with rivals such as the Citroën Berlingo. Peugeot Partner and Volkswagen Caddy. The larger Kangoo Maxi van increases this still further to a maximum load volume of 4.6m3 and a 800kg payload, although both of these figures drop slightly with the crew van.

The Kangoo is fitted with twin opening rear and a sliding side door as standard and has a loading length of 1,476mm, increasing to 1,731mm when the folding passenger seat is specified. It can also accommodate a Euro pallet. Four versions are available: the basic panel van; the Maxi extended wheelbase panel van; the Maxi Crew van and the Maxi Crew Cab van. Renault has all bases covered.

Leasing charges
Making the figures work for the Kangoo shouldn’t be too taxing. In fact, as it’s an EV, it is rated at £0 BIK and has a 100 per cent write-down allowance. There is no cost for road fund licence or congestion charge, but there is a leasing charge to be considered. Renault implements a monthly battery leasing contract for all its EVs (which includes breakdown assistance), with the lowest rate of £61 chargeable if drivers cover 6,000 miles or fewer per year. The top rate is £89 for 15,000 miles of driving, while 9,000 and 12,000 miles are leveraged at £65 and £75 per month respectively.

The standard price of the Kangoo Z.E. tested here is £20,517.60 including VAT. With the government’s Plug-in Van Grant, this decreases to £16,414.08. With Renault’s registration fee and associated charges, the final ‘on the road’ price is £17,064.08. That’s a useful £4,000 cheaper than the Citroën Berlingo Electric and a substantial £9,000 less expensive than the Peugeot Partner Electric.

The Kangoo Z.E is protected by Renault’s 4+ package, with a four-year/100,000‑mile warranty and four years’ roadside assistance. A five-year/100,000 warranty applies to the electric drivetrain (the battery effectively has a lifetime guarantee as it is covered by the customer’s monthly battery hire contract).

No hardship to drive
There is a lot to like about the Renault Kangoo Z.E. It is small enough to nip around in through urban areas, yet is large enough to be practical. And while it may be best suited to scooting about towns and cities, this test proved it can handle longer distance journeys and motorways with ease. Obviously more planning is needed with charging cycles and range, but if thought out, the Kangoo Z.E. makes the perfect courier/local business vehicle.

This latest version changed my perception of EVs in daily use for the better. Add in the facts that it is the cheapest full-size all‑electric van in the UK and it is no hardship to drive, it’s not difficult to see why it is an award winner.

Renault Kangoo Z.E.
GROSS PAYLOAD: 650kg
LOAD VOLUME: 3.4m3
ENGINE: 44kW AC electric motor
ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION: 155 Wh/km
CO2: 0g/km
RANGE: 106 miles
PRICE (ex-VAT): £17,064.08 (inc VAT, after government grant)