Fluence EV

ba_barabus

I've noticed these parked round the back of a lot of main Renault dealers, several at a time, but I can't for the life of me say I've ever seen one in the wild apart from a prelaunch one on the M7.

Did anyone actually buy them (not dealer registered models) and if not whats happening with them?

I'm just purely interested to know given some users seems to have the EV BUG around here of late.

listermint

ba_barabus wrote: »

I've noticed these parked round the back of a lot of main Renault dealers, several at a time, but I can't for the life of me say I've ever seen one in the wild apart from a prelaunch one on the M7.

Did anyone actually buy them (not dealer registered models) and if not whats happening with them?

I'm just purely interested to know given some users seems to have the EV BUG around here of late.

Would you notice the difference on the road between one and a normal fluence expect a small badge ??

ba_barabus

listermint wrote: »

Would you notice the difference on the road between one and a normal fluence expect a small badge ??

I would as I'd know what I was looking at.

Different front grille, different rear, different trim on the side and unique alloys to name but a few.

Soarer

Have it on good authority that they're muck, and most are being shipped to China.

ba_barabus

Soarer wrote: »

Have it on good authority that they're muck, and most are being shipped to China.

Poor range or just traditional Renault electrics?

bazz26

It's really a Samsung.

Max Power1

Lets ask mad lad for an unbiased opinion

colm_mcm

bazz26 wrote: »

It's really a Samsung.

If its anything like my phone, that doesn't bode well for the batteries

ba_barabus

Max Power1 wrote: »

Lets ask mad lad for an unbiased opinion

No sign of him yet but I expect he will be able to tell us what's wrong with them

Soarer

ba_barabus wrote: »

Poor range or just traditional Renault electrics?

Poor everything really, including charging cables! :eek:

ba_barabus

Soarer wrote: »

Poor everything really, including charging cables! :eek:

I was wondering why they had quietly disappeared

beazee

Took one for a test ride last year.
There are two problems:
1) Lack of quick charge option (unlike Leaf or iMiEV, 30 mins for 80% charge)
2) Battery rental scheme, €70 pm kills any savings you could make in the long run.

September1

As beazee said, they do this scheme where you get worst of two worlds, indefinite lease payments on your battery with restricted amount of mileage and full risk of ownership of car. I would be surprised if they sold even single one to consumer.

Yet, they registred 48 of those in July 2012 and I do not think those were demo cars. I really wonder who took them.

Ta daaaaa here I am !

As beazee said, no quick charge. If it's a 2nd school shop run car perfect, but I'd expect it for under 10K Euro's. It's not a car I would like though, the Leaf is a far better car.

There is no battery rental as the fluence ev was sold with the battery, and I'm thinking the huge delay in Zoe is Renault Ireland begging for it to be sold with the battery here.

You buy a 2nd hand Zoe and there is only 75% battery, they will replace it, worth it or not ? up to you, An e.v will still be pretty good with 150,000 miles with a good battery.

September1

September1 wrote: »

As beazee said, they do this scheme where you get worst of two worlds, indefinite lease payments on your battery with restricted amount of mileage and full risk of ownership of car. I would be surprised if they sold even single one to consumer.

Yet, they registred 48 of those in July 2012 and I do not think those were demo cars. I really wonder who took them.

Dealers, ESB etc, Zoe is not available yet.

They have lease plans to suit your mileage, you can change the plan per month, not many leases allow this.

However if you're a 3 year car owner then the Leaf will be best, but it will cost more also.

unkel

beazee wrote: »

2) Battery rental scheme, €70 pm kills any savings you could make in the long run.

That's just crazy. It wouldn't make any difference on a brand new car as the €840 per year for the battery rental is nothing compared with the depreciation. Even the opportunity cost of money is higher than that

But for an aging car this is a significant bill. And that's before you pay a cent for fuel (electricity)

As a comparison, I drive a big old heavy 6 cylinder petrol engined gas guzzling saloon car and €70 in petrol would do me for well over two weeks...

unkel

unkel wrote: »

That's just crazy. It wouldn't make any difference on a brand new car as the €840 per year for the battery rental is nothing compared with the depreciation. Even the opportunity cost of money is higher than that

But for an aging car this is a significant bill. And that's before you pay a cent for fuel (electricity)

As a comparison, I drive a big old heavy 6 cylinder petrol engined gas guzzling saloon car and €70 in petrol would do me for well over two weeks...

Ah but you see, nobody knows yet if the lease will drop as the car ages, you could say on a 5 year old car it's not any worse a deal than any ice car because the fuel costs are negligible and free on public chargers, though for how long is anyone's guess.

If the ESB decide to rip people off for fast charging then they might as well disconnect the already installed fast chargers, if it adds up to what It would cost in petrol or diesel that defeats the purpose.

Sesshoumaru

I drove one at a marketing event. I found it to be very basic on the interior, satnav looked very poor as well. Handling wasn't great and it lacked power I felt. The boot space was extremely minimal as the battery pack occupied most of the boot. No fast charging option was a major letdown as was battery rental with a laughable mileage allowance of something like 12,000 kilometers per year.

I also drove Kangoo EV that day and actually found that to be much better designed. But still crippled with monthly battery rental.

ba_barabus

Sesshoumaru wrote: »

I also drove Kangoo EV that day and actually found that to be much better designed. But still crippled with monthly battery rental.

The French embassy seems to have one as a staff vehicle. I've also seen them being used in Dublin airport.

Once again, battery rental was not an option on the Fluence in Ireland, it was sold only with battery.

ba_barabus

Deleted User wrote: »

Once again, battery rental was not an option on the Fluence in Ireland, it was sold only with battery.

Yes but if we ignore your common sense approach using CRAZY PHACTS people can still believe rubbish.

bazz26

I think the problem is that asking people to buy an electric car sold by Renault is like asking Mary Harney to recommend a fitness instructor.

el pasco

ba_barabus wrote: »

The French embassy seems to have one as a staff vehicle. I've also seen them being used in Dublin airport.

Can somebody steal your electric cord if you charge in a public place?
What if they get a shock or die while trying to steal your charging cable if its in public who is responsible
What about if someone trips over your cable while charging it
Who is liable?

September1

el pasco wrote: »

Can somebody steal your electric cord if you charge in a public place?

Public chargers lock the cable.

But they don't lock into the car ?

September1

Deleted User wrote: »

But they don't lock into the car ?

I think not, at least in LEAF v1 they do not.

Would be a right pain in the arse if some git plugged it out, wouldn't it be nice if the plug could be live while the car was charging !

Superdedupity

I can see scumbags livening up puddles with this;)

Can't happen afaik if it's not plugged into the car then the plug is always dead.

Superdedupity

Surely the plug would only be dead until it met something conductive eg water

colm_mcm

Nope, its electronic and will have thought of that.

Superdedupity

Superdedupity wrote: »

Surely the plug would only be dead until it met something conductive eg water

No the plug is dead until it receives a signal from the car to tell the charger it's plugged in. Then it will dump all 50,000 watts of lethal DC voltage !

Steady Zeddy

I run a Kangoo EV on our company fleet - the cable locks in place - door has to be unlocked before the plug releases a pin to allow you to disconnect.

FWIW - the Kangoo EV is actually a fine service vehicle in an urban environment. Good performance (especially once you take it off ECO mode) due to the high torque - exceptionally quite and an incredible turning circle make it useful around town.

One of its main selling points is also one of its biggest disadvantages however as people tend to step straight of footpaths into the path of the car as they simply cannot hear it. You'll never use a horn more than when driving an EV around town.

I use the horn rarely in the Prius while it's running on the motor.

This isn't a fault of electrics but stupid people.

People walk around with headphones all the time which is ridiculous because they are in cloud 9 while walking public streets which is much more dangerous.