Renault Zoe: New pricing structure, updated interior

Renault has taken a leaf out of Nissan’s book and revised its sales model for the Zoe EV. You can now buy the car outright, starting from £18,443 after the Government grant, as an alternative to leasing the batteries (which reduces the upfront cost of the cheapest model to £13,995). The same option is now also available on the Kangoo Van Z.E.

Both models will be denoted by an ‘i’ badge on the boot lid, helping differentiate them from the lease versions when they reach the used car market. In addition to the new pricing structure, Renault has also change the dash trim to a darker colour on all Zoe models to reduce glare from the windscreen – a common complaint from customers.

The Zoe range structure is identical, so the three trim levels - Expressions, Dynamique Zen and Dynamique Intens (costing £18,443, £20,043 and £20,043 respectively) – stay the same. The Kangoo Van i range starts from £16,161 after Government grant if you buy it outright, or from £12,995 if you lease the batteries.

To try to tempt even more customers in, Renault is cutting the price of battery leasing by £20 per month, as long as you sign up before the end of March 2015. That means for the lowest-mileage package (up to 3,000 miles per year) you now pay £25 per month – a saving of £900 over the course of a 36-month contract.

There are small changes in the warranty for the purchase outright models – all of which are protected by a five-year, 60,000-mile warranty on the batteries (as opposed to an unlimited warranty when you lease them), in addition to the four-year 100,000-mile vehicle warranty.

Designed primarily to make the Zoe i more appealing to fleet buyers, the move mirrors Nissan's restructure of its Leaf pricing in April 2013. You can now buy a Leaf outright from £20,990, or pay from £15,990 if you prefer to lease the batteries.

Despite EVs remaining a small proportion of UK sales, there are some encouraging signs. Total EV sales are up 140 per cent year on year with 11 models now on the market compared to five this time last year. Renault has reported Zoe sales are up 75 per cent year on year, with 1,058 units now sold since its launch in June 2013. Since launch in April 2012 the Twizy has sold 455 examples, while the Kangoo EV has sold 682 since it went on sale in November 2011.