Renault Zoe review
The Renault Zoe is a stylish, practical, and affordable electric supermini that offers an impressive real-world range for its price.
Author: Charlie Harvey
18th Dec 2025 – 8 mins read
The Renault Zoe was one of the very first affordable electric cars to hit the mainstream, and it has been a huge success for the French brand. It proved that you didn't need a huge budget to go electric, offering quirky styling, supermini practicality, and zero-emission motoring in one attractive package. It’s a car that has helped thousands of drivers make the switch to electric. The Zoe is at its best in the city, where its silent running, instant acceleration, and compact size make it a joy to nip through traffic. It’s also surprisingly practical, with enough space for four adults and a boot that’s bigger than many conventional superminis. While the interior can feel a bit cheap in places, and some earlier models came with a mandatory battery lease, the Zoe’s combination of a long real-world range and low running costs makes it a brilliant and sensible entry into electric car ownership.
Pros
- Long electric range for an affordable electric car
- Comes with a good level of standard equipment
- Fantastic value for money on the used market
Cons
- Many used models have a mandatory monthly battery lease
- The interior feels a bit cheap and plasticky in places
- Doesn't have some of the latest safety features
Interior
Dashboard & tech
The inside of the Renault Zoe is simple, modern, and very user-friendly. The dashboard has a clean, clutter-free layout, with most functions controlled via the seven-inch central touchscreen that comes as standard on all models. This system includes satellite navigation, Bluetooth, and DAB radio, and it's generally easy to get along with.
Ahead of the driver, you'll find a futuristic digital display instead of traditional dials, which shows key information like your speed, remaining range, and battery level. While the design is neat, the quality of the materials is a bit of a letdown. You’ll find a lot of hard, scratchy plastics, which makes the cabin feel a bit low-rent compared to some rivals.
Comfort
The Zoe is a very comfortable and relaxing car to drive. As with most electric cars, it’s whisper-quiet, especially around town, which creates a very calm and serene driving experience. The suspension is set up for comfort, so it does a good job of soaking up bumps and potholes, making it a pleasant car for dealing with Britain's less-than-perfect road surfaces.
The driving position is good, and the seats are comfortable. It’s a car that feels completely at home in an urban environment, and its quiet, smooth nature makes it a stress-free companion for the daily commute.
Quality
The Zoe’s cabin feels like it has been built to a budget, which is a little disappointing. As we've mentioned, the extensive use of hard plastics means it lacks the premium feel you might find in a BMW i3 or even a Volkswagen e-Golf. However, everything feels solid and sturdy enough to stand up to the demands of daily life.
Renault's reliability record has been a bit patchy in the past, and some Zoe owners have reported a few issues, so it's not quite as dependable as some other electric cars. That said, the electric powertrain has fewer moving parts than a conventional engine, so there is less to go wrong in theory.
Practicality & boot space
Interior space
For a small car, the Zoe is surprisingly practical. Renault has cleverly packaged the batteries under the rear seats, so they don’t eat into passenger or boot space. It’s based on the same platform as the old Clio, but it’s noticeably taller, which helps with headroom.
There’s enough room in the back for two adults to sit comfortably, making it a genuinely usable four-seater. It's only available as a five-door, so access to the rear seats is easy, and fitting a child seat is no problem. It’s one of the most practical small electric cars around.
Boot space
The Zoe has a really impressive boot for a car of its size. At 338 litres, it’s bigger than the boot in a Ford Fiesta or the Clio it’s based on. It’s a deep, square space that will easily swallow a weekly shop or luggage for a weekend away.
The only real disappointment is that the rear seats fold down in one single piece, rather than the more flexible 60/40 split you find in most rivals. This means you can’t carry a rear passenger and a long load at the same time. Still, it’s a very practical boot for a small car.
Driving
Driving experience
If it’s your first time driving an electric car, the Zoe will feel wonderfully simple and normal. The instant torque from the electric motor gives it impressively sharp acceleration from a standstill, making it feel very nippy and responsive around town. It’s perfect for darting through gaps in traffic.
It’s not a car designed for driving thrills, though. The Zoe is quite heavy for a small car, and you can feel that weight in the corners, where there is quite a lot of body roll. The performance also feels a bit sluggish at higher speeds. It's at its best when driven in a relaxed manner, where its quiet, smooth, and easy-going nature can be appreciated.
Performance
The latest version of the Zoe, from 2018 onwards, comes with an electric motor known as the R110. It produces 106bhp, which is enough for a 0-60mph time of 11.7 seconds. The more important figure is the instant pulling power, which makes it feel much quicker than that number suggests in city driving.
The 40kWh battery pack gives the Zoe a fantastic real-world range. While the official figure is 250 miles, Renault quotes a more realistic range of around 186 miles in summer, which is still excellent for a car of this size and price.
Running costs
Fuel economy & charging
This is where the Zoe really makes sense. Running on electricity is far cheaper than paying for petrol or diesel, and the Zoe’s impressive range means you can cover a lot of miles for very little cost. It’s exempt from road tax and congestion charges, and company car tax is incredibly low.
Charging times vary. From a standard 7kW home wallbox, a full charge takes around 7.5 hours. Using a public rapid charger, you can top the battery up from flat to 80% in about 1 hour and 40 minutes.
Value for money
The Zoe has always been great value. When buying a used Zoe, the biggest thing to be aware of is the battery lease. Most early cars were sold with a mandatory monthly battery lease, which can cost between £49 and £110 per month depending on your mileage. This is an ongoing cost you need to factor in. Renault did start offering cars where you could buy the battery outright (often called 'battery owned' or 'i' models), and these are more expensive to buy but don't have the monthly fee.
Reliability & Warranty
As mentioned, Renault’s reliability record is not the best, but the electric powertrain is mechanically simple. The battery lease scheme does come with the advantage of a lifetime guarantee, where Renault will replace the battery if its performance degrades significantly. On battery-owned cars, the battery is covered by an eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty from new.
Safety
Safety features
When the Zoe was crash-tested by the safety experts at Euro NCAP in 2013, it was awarded the maximum five-star rating, so it’s a fundamentally safe car. However, it is a bit disappointing that it’s not available with some of the more modern active safety features, such as autonomous emergency braking, which are now standard on many newer rivals.
Trims & Engines
Trim levels
The Zoe is available in a couple of core trim levels, both of which are well-equipped.
Dynamique Nav: The long-standing trim level comes with plenty of standard kit, including 16-inch alloy wheels, the seven-inch touchscreen with satellite navigation, automatic lights and wipers, rear parking sensors, and climate control.
S Edition: This higher-spec model adds a premium Bose sound system and a reversing camera for extra convenience.
Engines
There is just one powertrain option on the latest versions of this generation of Zoe.
R110: This is the electric motor that produces 106bhp. It’s paired with a 40kWh battery pack that gives an excellent real-world range. It comes with a single-speed automatic transmission, making it incredibly easy to drive. Older models were available with a less powerful R90 motor and a smaller 22kWh battery, which has a much shorter range.