Getting Fluent with EVs

Renault is confident its new electric car will help remove the 'experimental' tag in car buyers' minds when it arrives in Australia in 2012.

Based on the Fluence sedan, the Fluence ZE is for all intents and purpose a "normal" car, says Renault Australia boss, Justin Hocevar.

"This is a conventional sedan in almost all aspects," Hocevar told the Carsales Network at the announcement of the ZE's move Down Under yesterday in Sydney.

"These vehicles [EVs] represent a clean break solution that can put zero-emissions mobility within everyone's reach. But almost as importantly, the Fluence ZE is a conventional four-door sedan that provides the sort of room and drive that consumers expect from a modern C-segment car.

"It's proof that EVs can be practical feasible and, as we will detail closer to the launch, affordable."

Renault claims 185km range from the Fluence and around 25km range for each hour of top-up charging. The car is built to facilitate automated battery swaps in "around the same time it takes to fill a conventional car with fuel," says the Renault Oz chief. But it features a full size boot and room for five.

Renault rates the Fluence's electric motor at 70kW. However with maximum torque of 226nm available at very low road speeds in-town performance should be quite spritely. Its top speed is electronically limited to 135km/h.

Launch partner for the ZE's arrival Down Under, BetterPlace (which will lease the Fluence ZE's batteries to buyers and contract to supply electricity via renewable sources) says the average distance traveled daily by Australian drivers is less than 120km. Company boss Evan Thornley claims that with its battery swap out stations in place by the end of 2013, more than half Australia's drivers will be able to drive "wherever whenever" in a electric car without range concerns.

Hocevar says the Fluence ZE will arrive in one high-spec model. It will feature navigation and other top-end features. An inbuilt system developed in cahoots with BetterPlace monitors charge and also the location of the nearest charging stations. "Apps" will provide real time traffic, parking and weather information.

Consumers will need to make little sacrifice to drive the ZE, says Hocevar. The main packaging change between the electric and internal combustion engine Fluence is the removal of the load through facility from boot to backseat. This is the location of the battery in the electric car, he says. Offsetting this the rear overhang of the car is longer and the usuable boot space deeper, he claims.

Hocevar is not making any volume claims for the ZE ahead of its release but points out because of Renault's relatively low overall volumes in Australia, the new electric vehicle has the potential to provide the marque with substantial percentage volume increases.

To this end, he's also keen to see the sedan's light commercial stablemate, the Kangoo ZE light van, come Down Under.

Unlike the ZE the Kangoo does not incorporate battery swap out into its design. That, however, does not mean the company would not partner with BetterPlace to offer a 'buy the car, lease the battery' package similar to Fluence.

"We are concentrating on Fluence, but certainly if Kangoo ZE made commercial sense then it would be considered," he said.

Renault and it's partner Nissan have spent a reported four billion Euros on EV development since the mid-2000s. The Fluence ZE is the centerpiece of joint BetterPlace Renault trial programs in both Israel and Denmark.

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