Renault Fluence EV UK Pricing Released - And It's Cheaper than a Prius!

That gives an indication of the battery price.

In France they have multiple plans, IIRC, for different mileages.

One problem with ZE is that being a convert, it has little trunc space.

 

Interesting about the battery leasing... Nissan kept talking about the Leaf's battery being leased only but then someone here on Priuschat stated (I'm not sure if the info is actually correct) that Nissan found out they couldn't do it since it was illegal (in the US) to require someone to lease a part that's required for the car to operate.

I do wonder how much technology and stuff not visible in the cabin is shared w/the Leaf.

I stumbled across a Renault showroom in Paris in December 2010 and found that the interiors of Renaults are nothing like Nissans. I know Ghosn has the philosophy that Nissans and Renaults should be different but that it's ok to share things/subsystems that aren't visible. From the pics of the Fluence EV at their web site, the interior also doesn't look like any Nissan.

 

The Fluence is a great car (got an opportunity to drive it a couple of weeks ago around London) and the indication from Renault staff (without tying down to any particular number) is that 10k miles would be "about" £85 and 15k miles "about" £95, which i thought was quite reasonable.

The boot is quite compromised, and the pack placement means you can't load large items through into the seats. I'm afraid it would make a poor cab

Nissan were apparently unable to offer battery leasing at launch, and in fact Renault are close to the wire in having it all set up for launch of the Kangoo. Nissan are watching how the lease model works for customers and can easily transfer the same contracts etc to themselves.

 

I see it slightly differently. i know how fast lithium technology is advancing. i don't want to pay £8k today for something which in 3 years is old hat. if instead i can pay £3,400 across 3 years, and then either take a new agreement on a new pack, or buy my own replacement pack (presumably with better range and lower price) then it's all good. having the lower cost of entry does make a -big- difference.

I'm really interested in the Zoe as well, if the price really does come in at £12-£14k with even cheaper battery leasing it will be an absolute bargain. at that cost i'd happily keep a crappy old diesel car for the two times a year i need to go hundreds of miles, or maybe just rent a car.

 

Shame the Fluence looks bland next to the Zoe (although the Zoe is still 90% concept). The Zoe really does look interesting and has the potential to really kick EV sales into overdrive especially at that price point...people just really need to take to the idea of leasing the battery which really makes sense if it means that in 3-4 years time it could be swapped for something cheaper and/or with a higher capacity...but that is a risk at the moment as there are no further details on that possibility...

 

Well if we look at the prius, it's been using the same battery chemistry for some time now (i believe gen3 has same modules as gen2?). So if it follows a normal automotive kind of cycle it may be more like 6-8 years before they make a higher capacity module available.

But i agree, zoe pricing is getting really mainstream!

 

Valid point Flan, although any gains of any sort in technology will probably be used to reduced price/cost rather than increase range.

Flan - having driven both the Leaf and the Fluence - care to compare or make any comments between the two?

 

Sure!

The Fluence looks and feels a little more like a "normal" car. You could pick someone up for a ride without arousing any suspicion that the car is "different". To me, everything about the Leaf, from the exterior styling, to the gear selector, to the multiple displays with no physical gauges, screams "I am different!" Now maybe that's a good thing to you, or maybe you'd feel a little disappointed when you compared your Fluence to a Laguna, there's a lot of shared switchgear etc. I certainly thought the Leaf looked both better made, and made of better materials, but we really don't know how it will hold up over the years and miles, at least you can hop in a 10 year old laguna and get an idea.

My only real criticism of the Fluence is it's lack of utility (i.e. it's a saloon) and a sort of vague underlying concern about the quality of electrics in french cars. Everyone would also have to decide for themselves how critical the lack of either a chademo port, or AC fast charging (onboard charger is 3.5kw) is to them. Battery swap capability is fine in principle but the future of that is totally unclear. I suspect a lot of sales will come purely because of the lower cost of entry.

Both vehicles absolutely blow the iMiEV out of the water. It felt insubstantial (the Smart handles better and feels safer), and cheap. The drivetrain etc work fine and are reasonably powered, but there's a total lack of the communications/data etc you find in the Leaf (i.e. when charging it doesn't tell you when it will complete, you can't set a time delay to charge etc). The fact it doesn't even have a clock(!) is bizarre, and simple items like cruise control are absent. When the Zoe hits the market it will kill the iMiEV stone dead, unless they pull something special out the bag for gen2.

Bit of a ramble, i know, but if you want to know more just ask!

 

Why not do what so many PC'rs do - throw it in hybrid news?


Maybe the Fluence costs is less than what a Leaf cost because (technology sharing) Leaf picks up the Lion's share of R & D costs?

 

Heh, don't you mean the Prius v area?