Used Renault Zoe-can a case be made to buy one?

[NewcastleFalcon]

Your Zoe.....

Gibbo it may benefit others, (and nosey prople like me), who may go through the leased battery route on a second hand Zoe.

On transfer of the lease do RCI require a "State of Health" Battery report at the point of transfer, or indeed seek any evidence of confirmation of service history I wonder if the small print on transfer gets you to confirm that the vehicle as you receive it, has been maintained in accordance with manufacturers recommendations, even though you would have no evidence to support that it has unless it had a fully stamped service book.

The Zoe you are purchasing presumably has under 30,000 on it....based on the last MOT on the DVLA, so I would think that the battery still has a good SOH, and from what I have read degradation of the Zoe battery isnt a great problem, and the 75% trigger hasnt been reached for the older Zoe's on the road and our friends at RCI havent been inundated with claims.

A report I read on "Speak EV" from July 2020 indicated that pretty much the base battery buy back price was £2,750 for the 22kWh Zoe for one of the older Zoes (2013 given as an example) from owners getting quotes from RCI.

https://www.speakev.com/threads/rci-now ... st-2840714

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

If you want to check the SOH on a Zoe Battery, there is a free ap called CanZe, which works with a "Dongle" plugged into the obd port of the Zoe. (sounds like you need a smartphone to do the app thing!)

Heres EV Nick explaining such things



Regards Neil

[Gibbo2286]

As I said Neil there are twelve pages of small print to the battery lease,

They guarantee a working battery at the start of the lease and require notice within five days if it doesn't power the car on delivery.

The battery value at first registration is a little over six grand and reduces from month thirteen by ten percent per annum so at seven years old it's about the figure you quote, that's what your insurers would have to cough up if the battery got wrecked or stolen but they would negotiate with the insurer a deal. Any shortfall the owner would have to pay.

The lease though has a pretty good breakdown cover included, any breakdown not just the battery.

The small print says also: You may, at your own expense, instruct a Renault Z.E, Specialist to carry out a battery charging diagnostic to test the Battery Capacity. Should such diagnostic test determine that the Charging Capacity Threshold is not achieved, we shall, at our discretion, either,
(a) Replace the battery
(b) Repair the battery or
(c) Provide such other mutually acceptable solution.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Thanks Gibbo, good to pick out a few key points from the full agreement.

As I said Neil there are twelve pages of small print to the battery lease,
They guarantee a working battery at the start of the lease and require notice within five days if it doesn't power the car on delivery.

I thought they would get a full state of Health assessment, prior to offering the lease as a new start point.
For all they know they could be into battery replacement territory in the first week if they don't

7.1 We shall supply you with a Battery that is in good working condition and we shall replace or repair any defective Battery providing you comply with the terms and conditions of this Hire Agreement and the manufacturer recommendations for charging and use of the Battery.
....
7.3 We shall provide you with a Battery that has sufficient charging capacity for the term of this Hire Agreement and any extension to the term. The charging threshold is 75% of the Battery's original capacity.

This little snippet from Speak-EV (2020) gives an indication of the response from a Renault Dealer to an enquiry about checking the battery state of Health of a Zoe.

Does anyone know where I can take my 66 reg Zoe to, to have the battery SOC (should be State Of Health SOH) checked, preferably in Portsmouth? I’ve rang Martins in Winchester as I occasionally go to Winchester, but they want about £200 to ‘test’ it, as it takes about 2 hours to properly check it.

Er...I think I smell a little dealer BS there...

Now I think I would get one of those dongles and the free CANZe app for under £20 and test it for yourself. Borrow someones smart phone to do it if you dont want to enter the world of smartphones. Not sure if you can do it on a laptop (edit...there are ways and means like this https://www.browsercam.com/canze-pc/ ). How else are you going to know whether your battery has dropped below 75% SOH.? Not sure if the Zoe has any indicator on the dash. The Leaf has its 12 "bars" recording State of Health on the dash display.

REgards Neil

[Gibbo2286]

I've got two obd2 dongles sitting in my drawer Neil one's bluetooth, maybe I'll see it it works on my laptop.
I note on the battery they don't say they'll replace with new, just useable.

[NewcastleFalcon]

I've got two obd2 dongles sitting in my drawer Neil one's bluetooth, maybe I'll see it it works on my laptop.
I note on the battery they don't say they'll replace with new, just useable.

I really have no idea about these things, but I think the work round on the laptop is via an "android emulator" like Bluestacks. That Video from EV Nick did mention that not all dongles worked, but plenty that do.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

A case has been made and one has been bought

Zoe's on the drive, collected it this morning, used my bus pass for the first time in years.

Car seems fine not a rattle or squeak anywhere, a very few stone chips, interior is spotless and everything that I can understand works. (Need a handbook) the only thing so far that needs a fix is the mirror adjuster, doesn't do anything and a sign on the dash tells me the key battery is low but I have one of those in the drawer.

Had 73 miles to use on the clock when I picked it up, 50 when I got home, about right.

Need a Handbook, awkward to read on line but here's one

https://www.usermanual.uk/renault/zoe-2014/manual

Great Gibbo!
Best of luck with it, enjoy it.

Regards Neil

[Gibbo2286]

So in addition to the charge cable and tools this is screwed up in the boot, what is it?

[Dormouse]

it's a dog mat/box liner thingy. it is supposed to keep the boot "clean"

let's hope the pooch was house trained

[NewcastleFalcon]

With those paw prints all over it I guess its a dog cover for the seats or the boot.

Regards Neil

[Dormouse]

If you find any odd stains in the boot it is rubber glove and Dettol time. seriously.

[Gibbo2286]

Apart from dust and leaves the boot is clean thank goodness, tools unused and the tyre repair stuff unopened, just gave it a wash to remove all the dust that it's collected whilst going through the long insolvency and auction process.

I had a look around to see if it really was a bargain buy electric, on Ebay one with 85k miles (32k on mine) is five grand, at the Renault dealers they have 233 on offer around the country, cheapest with over double the mileage to this is seven and a half grand, still with a leased battery.

My outlay £3248 including the buyer's premium £599 for a tethered Pod Point charger from EDF and the bloody insurance at £850. Can't see any likely further expense, yet.

[Gibbo2286]

With those paw prints all over it I guess its a dog cover for the seats or the boot.

Regards Neil

Yes I figured it was some sort of pet mat.

[Gibbo2286]

So, just been down to give Mr Tesco his wages, thought I'd have a dabble on the charger, the contactless one doesn't have the right plugs and the one with the right plugs only works off the app. which my phone is too old to support.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Ive never used a Tesco Chargepoint, dont have a smartphone or an app.

This was a workround I came up with, only done it once. I did set up an account with Pod-point, and phoned them while at this chargepoint. As with Tesco its a free vend on the 7kW charger, so you could try the same as I did.

The app starts and stops a charge, but they can easily start a charge for you if you phone them up. To stop it, if the car doesnt do it automatically like my leaf can, you may have to phone them back. Cable may be locked in the charger unit if you dont have a way of stopping the charge.

There are ways and means around it, not sure if you can do it from a laptop if there is some wi-fi available in the vicinity of the charger. The pod-point person I got through to was very helpful. Maybe it helped that I actually had an account set up with them.

A pod point first today. No smart phone, no app just phoned the number on Clay-Matt (all their chargers have names) and the helpful chap just started a charge....free vend from a 7kW charger. I do have an account with pod-point I kicked off with £10, but seeing as it was a free-vend the chap never asked me for any details.

Regards Neil