The Renault-Nissan Alliance's second battery electric road car, after the Leaf, but will anyone warm to this electron-fuelled Megane saloon?
Carlos Ghosn, Renault-Nissan’s chief executive, thinks you will. In the past five years he’s bet €4 billion (£3.48 billion) that you will. Some say he’s belligerently cut development of conventional models to fund this, a claim he hotly denies.
Nevertheless, this is the first proper Renault launch for more than a year. UK sales last year were 57 per cent down on 2005 and one wonders whether this once-innovative and strong French company has forgotten how to sell cars.
The Fluence ZE is due next spring offering a different kind of deal to the Leaf of sister company Nissan. Where you buy the Leaf and its 24kWh battery outright for £26,000 including a £5,000 government EV (electric vehicle) grant, the Fluence sells for £17,850 including the grant but without the 22kWh battery, which is leased separately for £81 a month over three years.
This effectively means that Renault is underwriting the value of the battery and, again, Ghosn says this is fine and dandy.
For the Fluence ZE, the Megane saloon bodywork gets a new grille and rear bumper, blue-tinted badges and low rolling resistance tyres. Under the skin is a 95bhp electric motor driving the front wheels powered by a 617lb battery pack with inverter and power electronics.
The cabin feels big and there’s plenty of leg room front and rear. The upholstery is up to the standards of the conventional Megane and the seats are comfortable and supportive.
Turn the key and, after a systems check, a green Go light appears on the simple dashboard comprising a battery-charge meter, an eco-driving gauge and a conventional speedometer.
With 167lb ft of torque, the Fluence fair sprints from a standstill and at medium speeds feels brisk if a bit heavy, which it is, although up to 30mph the Fluence is almost two seconds faster than its piston-engined equivalent.
Push on and the eco-meter needle locks itself in the red zone, showing you are burning battery capacity. Lift off, however, and the motor starts to recharge the battery and the needle swings into the blue.
Unlike the Leaf, noise suppression is impressive and although there’s a slight whine at low speeds it is the quietest EV we’ve driven so far.
Above 50mph, the motor’s torque falls off fast and the 1.68-ton kerb weight starts to tell. The speed is limited to 84mph, which is plenty.
The braking performance, which combines friction linings and regeneration drag as the motor becomes a generator, is highly linear and you barely notice the switch between the two. In fact there are times when you could use a higher rate of regenerative braking, which rivals such as the VW Golf battery prototype provide.
The steering is over-assisted, which inhibits more flamboyant driving (as does the prospect of being stuck by the side of the road without charge), but the Fluence is easy to place in a corner.
Almost equal front/rear weight distribution provides a surprisingly agile balance in corners, and Renault engineers have worked hard with the suspension to provide a good, if slightly soft, ride with excellent body control.
As you might expect, it prefers a more relaxed approach, but if you are prepared to pay the price of less than half the published range of 115 miles you can drive it quite quickly.
If you start to run short of charge, the standard TomTom satnav displays an operating radius and nearby charge points. In addition, the air-conditioning has a restricted eco function and the car will precondition the cabin temperature while on charge so you don’t have to waste battery power heating or cooling it on the move.
Renault reckons most owners will charge their cars at home, which will take between six and eight hours. With electricity at about 12 pence a unit, a full recharge will cost about £2.80.
The Fluence ZE is surprisingly good, feeling like a proper car in contrast to the rather space-age feel of the Leaf. And while it is easy to scoff at the sort of eco-minded wealthy middle classes who have put their name down for one of these as a third car, it is important to remember that the environment doesn’t care where each gram of CO2 is saved.
Fact is, however, for the average one-car family, the Fluence ZE and its ilk are a bit of a non-starter, a fact tacitly acknowledged by Ghosn, who says any real advance on the current state-of-the-art battery technology is at least a decade away.
Perhaps next year’s Zoe small battery-powered car, or the £20,400 Kangoo ZE van/crew bus, which goes on sale next month, will be slightly more practical alternatives given their more limited radius of use. Renault certainly seems to think so.
It also hopes that its four-car range of EVs (Twizy, the electric go kart, comes next year) will help establish it as a modern and innovative car maker, which might also help it sell a few more of its conventional models.
THE FACTS Renault Fluence
Tested: Four-door saloon, with AC synchronous electric motor with a 192-cell, 22kWh, 400V battery pack
Price/on sale: £22,850 (£17,850 with £5,000 EV grant)
Power/torque: 95bhp (70kW) @ 3,000rpm/ 167lb ft at zero rpm
Top speed: 84mph
Acceleration: 0-62mph in 13.7sec
CO2 emissions: Zero at tailpipe, around 66g/km well-to-wheels using UK carbon generation of 555g of CO2/kWh
VED band: A (£0)
Verdict: Pretty good second attempt and more like a proper car than the Leaf
Telegraph rating: Three out of five stars
