Renault ZOE to take part in RAC Future Car Challenge

Renault ZOE to take part in RAC Future Car Challenge

The Renault ZOE, the French car maker's forthcoming all-electric vehicle, will be taking part in the 2012 RAC Future Car Challenge.

Occurring on November 3rd, the event tasks vehicles to undertake the 63-mile route from Madeira Drive, Brighton, to Imperial College and Regent Street, London, while using the lowest amount of energy.

Renault is confident that its all-electric supermini ZOE will have no problem reaching the finish line, seeing as though the vehicle has an official range of 130 miles on a single charge.

However, Andy Heiron, head of the electric vehicle programme at Renault UK, hopes that the car can stand head and shoulders above the competition to catch the eye of many potential customers.

"Our main aim is to demonstrate through a combination of the coverage the vehicles and the event get and the independently validated results that electric vehicles are a practical, viable alternative to the internal combustion engine for a significant proportion of car buyers," he explained.

Mr Heiron added that, in a dream scenario, Renault will be able to use the results the ZOE vehicle produces at the 2012 RAC Future Car Challenge "to validate what sort of range figures can be achieved in 'real world' conditions when an EV is well driven".

The Renault ZOE will be joined on the start line at Madeira Drive by the new Clio 4, which is powered by a super-small 0.9-litre three-cylinder petrol engine and emits a slender 99g/km while returning 65.9mpg.

A Fluence Z.E. and Kangoo Van Z.E. complete Renault's entries for this year's RAC Future Car Challenge.

This year's event represents the third year that the innovative challenge has taken place, with the previous two competitions raising the awareness of low energy use and low emission vehicles to a nationwide audience.

Ben Cussons, chairman of the Royal Automobile Club Motoring Committee, pointed out: "In just a couple of years the Future Car Challenge has emerged as the most important annual motoring event for showcasing the vehicles people will be driving in years to come."

Posted by Louise Clark