Renault ZOE EV still on radar

The electric car revolution is gathering pace in the US, China and Europe, but Australia is being left behind due to a lack of infrastructure and consumer incentives, says Renault.

One of the best mainstream electric cars we've driven is the Renault ZOE, a light car roughly the size of a Toyota Yaris, with a 210km driving range and all the mod cons you could ask for.

Although work is continuing to bring the car to Australia the managing director of Renault Australia, Justin Hocevar, says that electric vehicle uptake in Australia will remain subdued until governments take measures to increase their appeal, primarily by reducing their purchase and/or running costs.

"Zoe is still very much on our radar. We're still working through the business case. The tough issue is price,” he said.

"One of the big challenges is lack of government incentive. It doesn't matter if it's a mature market in Europe or the United States, or an emerging market like China, there's EV incentives in one way or another to help promote this new technology," said Hocevar.

Even the smallest incentives like toll-free driving or lower vehicle registration costs would encourage EV sales growth, says the Renault boss, who adds that his disappointment at how little interest any government has shown is shared by many car companies.

"It wouldn’t take a very big investment at all to help get this kind of technology out on our streets," he said.

At the most generous end of the scale, ZOE prices start at €13,700 ($A20,700) in France, because the government pays roughly €7000 ($A10,580) in incentives.

But without mass take up of EVs in Australia, where Mitsubishi’s pioneering i-MiEV has been effectively discontinued due to lack of demand, infrastructure such as fast-charge stations is unlikely to blossom.

Western Europe has more than 20,000 recharge stations and counting.

Almost all car-makers with an EV agenda grumble about the lack of local government incentives, and Hocevar says Australian car companies could achieve better outcomes by uniting for a common goal.

"I think there could be more work done in this regard. There's not enough work being done as a combined group. We're probably all individual voices, we could probably do more.

Hocevar side-stepped when asked if he would lead the charge, but stated he has no qualms in joining forces with marketplace rivals.

"We're one of the smaller players -- our voice is obviously smaller -- but we'd be happy to partner up with other brands and take that message to the market and government.

"If we could see some movement there at a local, state or federal level, I think that would be a great way to kick start the segment. Regardless, we're going to continue to work on a business case to get ZOE started in Australia," stated Hocevar.

“Australia's a very well suited market to EV, despite what people may think. A lot of people view Australia as this huge land mass that you need to drive across -- we all know we don’t do that. We drive around large urban islands, and we do so on a daily basis well within the range of an EV.”

Hocevar indicated that, given the prohibitive costs of EVs and the fact most new car buyers' biggest motivator is price, Renault is targeting a price of around $25,000 for the ZOE by offsetting the cost of the car's lithium-ion battery -- one of its most expensive parts -- by leasing it to customers at a monthly rate.

A similar retail model had been planned for the Renault Fluence ZE, import plans for which died with the demise of EV infrastructure company Better Place, whose plans to establish a network of battery switch stations never eventuated.

Hocevar admits limited range, distance between recharging stations and the resulting ‘range anxiety’ also remain key blockers to EV take-up in Australia.

"There's still a big job to be done with regards to everybody's understanding of how to live with an EV. And it's really not as complex as we all think it might be. But there are some stigmas to overcome," said Hocevar.

However, unlike in the US and Europe, Australian motorists also remain unconvinced that EVs are as kind to the environment as they’re portrayed -- particularly when powered by coal-fired electricity, as is the case almost exclusively here.

Ultimately, that could be a bigger hurdle than convincing federal, state or local governments to offer EV incentives.

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