The test pitted the Renault Clio E-Tech against the Renault Zoe. Is a small automobile better as a hybrid or as an all-electric vehicle? Renault Automobiles Zoe has a complicated relationship with her curves. Do you have a drive-thru? In an unsportsmanlike manner, he can do it properly. With a wink of the eye, we bring up the optional 17-inch mixed tires with 10 mm bigger front tires, which are designed to lessen the tendency to understeer, as was the case with the Audi A3 sports model.
In a coordinate system, his curve handling becomes much more amazing. In the first three years after 2013, less than 2,000 Zoe were admitted to the nation. With the environmental incentive, the numbers more than quadrupled in 2017.
The premium was raised in 2018 to 6,360 pieces, then to 9,431 the following year.
The incentive was increased to its present amount in late summer 2020: 6,000 euros from the state, 3,000 euros + VAT from the manufacturer. What was the outcome for Zoe? With 17,438 units sold, the VW e-Golf was ranked second in sales with 30,376 units. Even the Clio, Renault’s true bestseller, couldn’t keep up with 24,654 units sold, despite the fact that neither plug-in or electric version is available.
Hybrid drive is really complicated.
It competes as the Clio E-Tech 140 in this comparative test, with a hybrid powertrain that, according to the company, combines 150 patents.
A 1.2 kWh battery powers a 1.6 liter naturally aspirated gasoline engine with 91 horsepower, which is powered by a 15 kW starting generator and a 36 kW electric motor. The clutchless multimode gearbox is housed in the latter, for which Renault developed a working model out of Lego Technic components at the outset of development.
Achim Hartmann
Renault Clio E-Tech 140: Hybrid with 91 hp normally aspirated engine, 51 kW electric motor, 140 hp system output, starting at 22,800 euros.
The gearbox controls the electric motor’s two speeds and the combustion engine’s four gears. Because the electrical components are packaged in a battery symbol, the three pictograms in the energy flow diagram in the tacho display do not offer a detailed breakdown of how propulsion occurs. However, the electric motor may be observed acting alone on the wheels for brief periods or in conjunction with the combustion engine for longer stretches.
However, the gasoline engine can also charge the battery, allowing the electric motor to provide power alone in 15 different configurations, according to Renault.
Because the four-cylinder engine can start reasonably quietly and the drive transitions and gear shifts are typically seamless, you don’t notice much of the technical orchestration around town. Furthermore, it takes off swiftly and can travel quickly even when accelerating. In B mode, Zoe, he recovers considerably more powerfully.
Outside of the city, however, the drive not only does not help to driving comfort, but can even disturb it as the load grows.
The hybrid sometimes responds to gas inputs with a screaming engine and a little delayed frictional connection, casting doubt on the claimed 140 system horsepower.
Keyword: Renault Clio E-Tech Versus Zoe