Residents in the French town of Appy will be zooming around in their Renault Zoes. Image: Supplied
Va-va vroom: French town goes all-electric with new Renault Zoe
Electrifying news: The French carmaker has plugged an entire town in to go electric by ‘gifting’ all of its residents with its bestselling new Zoe.
Residents in the French town of Appy will be zooming around in their Renault Zoes. Image: Supplied
Renault has helped create the first 100% electric town by giving every household in the town of Appy in the Ariege region of France a new Zoe to experience for three years in a pioneering new scheme to prove electric mobility can be suitable for all.
However, it’s not as straightforward as it first appears. Appy, situated in the Ariege region in the south of France, is one of the most isolated towns in the country. That shouldn’t be an obstacle though, as the new Zoe’s 394km range and broad charging capabilities will help demonstrate that it’s easier than ever to move to electric vehicles, and that it’s not just the reserve of those living in urban areas.
With New Zoe’s strong sales climbing since its introduction earlier in 2020 and with more than 100 000 models on the road across Europe, it’s already proving to be a hit among a range of buyers.
In the remote rural town of Appy, all households receiving a new Zoe will be provided with a home charge and there will be a public charger for the town. When plugged in to a DC charger, the new Zoe’s 52kWh battery can be charged to 145km of range in just 30 minutes.
Electric mobility: First-time scheme implemented
Appy residents will run the Zoes for three years, sharing their impressions and experiences with Renault, in a first-time scheme that will likely inform and help understand the way customers interact with and use electric vehicles day to day.
If the inhabitants of one of the country’s most isolated towns can adopt an electric way of life, it’ll prove that everyone can. That also means the myths around buying and running an electric car can be dispelled once and for all.
With the electric vehicle market tripling in the first quarter of 2020, there’s no better time to switch to electric, and the new Renault Zoe delivers an impressive 394km range, the latest infotainment technology and DC fast-charging capability, the result of being at the forefront of the electric car market and innovation for the last eight years.
Multiple awards in months
The new Zoe is the culmination of those eight years of EV success, winning multiple awards despite only being on sale for a matter of months, with healthy order banks bucking the trend of the wider market.
Appy residents – along with regular ZOE owners – will be benefitting from a range of advanced features that come as standard on one of the New ZOE’s several attractive trim levels.
This includes recycled seat material on selected models, a 10-inch TFT Drivers Instrument Display, intuitive EasyLink touchscreen infotainment systems in a range of screen options up to 9.3 inches in size, and a suite of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems to ensure driving a ZOE is as easy and safe as possible.
All new Zoe models also come with a free home wallbox for faster home charging, five-year, 100,000-mile warranty, including three-year roadside assistance and an eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty on the battery.
