Renault Zoe is getting a refresh with longer range, faster charging, and more, report says

The Renault Zoe is consistently one of the best-selling all-electric vehicles in many European markets but it’s about the get some serious competition.

In order to compete, the French automaker is reportedly about to significantly refresh the vehicle with longer range, faster charging, and more.

Next-Gen Renault Zoe 2019

According to a new report from French media L’Argus, the refreshed version of the Zoe will launch later this year with a slightly updated design.

The interior is going to get an important refresh with a new instrument cluster, dashboard, and Easy LInk interface.

As for the exterior, the publication says that it will be updated too, but it will be less significant.

The vehicle has been spotted being tested in France recently — pictured above — but it was heavily camouflaged.

It will feature a new front fascia, which they claim is inspired by the Zoe e-Sport concept unveiled two years ago:

Zoe’s New electric Powertrain

The powertrain is also getting a significant update, but it’s unfortunately not getting the dual motor of the Zoe e-Sport concept.

Nonetheless, we are talking about a significant upgrade that includes a slight electric motor update to 109 hp (up from 107 hp on the motor introduced last year), but it will apparently have a new higher performance motor option with a 130 hp capacity, according to L’Argus.

The battery pack will also get an upgrade and while the publication doesn’t confirm the capacity, they say that it will be good enough to enable 400 km of WLTP range.

The current Zoe was rated with 400 km of NEDC range, which is a much less accurate standard.

We are now talking about a rated range of 250 miles, but it should result in over 200 miles of real-world range for most people.

With more energy capacity, Renault is also going to introduce a higher charger rate. The new Zoe is going to be able to charge at up to 100 kW at CCS fast-charging stations, according to the publication.

Electrek’s Take

That’s somewhat in line with what we have been expecting following the Nissan’s Leaf E-Plus update, which was unveiled earlier this year and already has over 3,000 reservations in Europe.

Considering the Renault-Nissan alliance and their cooperation on EV development, the Leaf and the Zoe have been following each other closely with regular powertrain updates over the years.

They are also talking about reducing the price to 30 000 € (~$33,800 USD), which should make the Zoe competitive with other offerings also hitting the market by the end of the year.

It’s all fine by me, but why not also offer a full dual motor e-Sport version for a premium? I think it would sell very well as a hot hatch.