Renault Oz to trial Kangoo EV

Renault is still planning to introduce its first electric vehicle to Australia, but it won’t be the still-born Fluence ZE sedan, which is on indefinite hold following the demise of its backer, EV infrastructure start-up Better Place.

The French brand’s battery-powered light commercial van, the Kangoo ZE, is set to commence back-to-base fleet trials with an as yet unnamed Victorian company and could become available to all Australian businesses.

Renault Australia Managing Director, Justin Hocevar, told motoring.com.au the pioneering EV brand was waiting for the facelifted model to arrive Down Under before beginning the feasibility study.

“It’s looking good for Kangoo ZE, for us to at least get a handful of cars out here to work on that trial, which will probably be Victorian-based. We’re working really hard to get some out here as soon as possible,” he said.

Hocevar said that although the business in question and Renault were keen to begin trialling the small fleet of electric vans, the importer would prefer to wait until the facelifted model arrives later this year or early in 2014.

“It’s going through all its engineering homologation and pricing validation that we need to do before we can confirm it, but it is looking pretty good.”

The Kangoo ZE, for Zero Emissions, uses an electric motor which develops 44kW/226Nm. It is powered by a 22kWh lithium-ion battery pack than can be charged via a standard 10A domestic power outlet in eight hours. Renault claims a total driving range of 170km.

While the Kangoo e-van won’t join its conventionally-powered siblings in local Renault showrooms any time soon, the trial will be a learning model for Renault Australia and could lead to the electric version being made available outside the usual retail outlets on a buy-back basis.

Hocevar said the exercise would allow the importer to gain a more thorough insight into just how a back-to-base commercial EV would function in an environment with next-to-no public charging infrastructure to support such a vehicle.

The results could give manufacturers such as Renault a case study with which to gather government support for more widespread use of electric-powered LCVs and passenger vehicles.

The Renault-Nissan alliance has several all-electric models and if trials of vehicles like the Kangoo ZE are favourable, both partners could offer small hatches and sedans as well as light-duty commercial vehicles for retail sale.

Nissan already sells its all-electric LEAF hatch locally and recently revealed plans to produce five EVs, including the NV200 van soon to make its global debut in Europe.

Renault is yet to confirm a future for the pint-size ZOE city-EV in Australia, where EV sales are miniscule. Nissan sold only 11 LEAFs last month and has attracted just 100 buyers this year.

Mitsubishi has stopped importing its pioneering i-MiEV due to lack of demand, with just 250-odd registered since its 2010 launch and none sold this year.

Renault’s internal combustion engined Kangoo, priced from $20,990 and available in SWB petrol and LWB Maxi diesel configurations, is selling in equally unimpressive numbers. It found just nine homes last month for a yearly total of only 190 -- compared to the Volkswagen Caddy van’s tally of 1477.

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