And the presentation of CoTY,,,

12 minutes in starts the actual ceremony, our Vicky Parott journo ......

33 minutes in for the actual announcement after all the scores on the board..... 

Second year in a row for a Renault (and Alpine) after the Scenic victory last year)

Already have a Scenic, smaller battery version unusually, hope to swap my Zoe for a 5 later this year, mid spec 52 kwh version, slightly more range than Zoe but much faster charging. Had an original 5 some 30 years ago and loved it and although looks are similar very different car of course. 

 

 

Edited 18 January, 20251 yr by lol-lol

 

 

 

56 minutes ago, Ootohere said:

 

I like the green too, not quite a Skoda or Kawasaki green but quite good.

 

Will research the LFP version against the pure lithium.

 

Car makers tend to do down the cheaper model in terms of acceleration and maybe even range spec as they prefer buyers to go for mid range or higher spec models as their profit margins are bigger on those cars.

 

40 kwh LFP is still a respectable 9s to 100 kph and range quoted as about 200 miles I recall rather than 255 for the nominal 52 kwh version which starts at £27k rather than £22k.

 

Finance at 5.5% apr not too bad but may drop hopefully as bank rates drop in UK and UK.

 

Hope Vicky is right and the 5, with the 4 and Twingo as wingmen/persons, as well as the Dacia brand, do well and move the transition to EVs forward at better speed.

 

 

 

 

 

I think my artificial foot / leg will catch on the sill as i lift my foot in as it does on many cars with body kits or just projecting sills.

And as well as that you get dirty trousers legs.   Style & Design over function is a PITY or for some shins. 

.............

If that is not an issue,

or the controls are not hopeless with a right hand drive and seating is comfy then the fact it can have a towbar for a bike rack suits me perfectly. 

 

Edited 18 January, 20251 yr by Ootohere

 

 

 

 

Wondering just how much better the R5 is going to be than my Zoe ZE50 ?  The Zoe has and still is proving to be just incredible.  The office where my boss is based has moved from LIverpool to Felixstowe and therefore journeys if 246 miles round trip in now 390 miles.  This means at least one charging stops and I mitigate the costs of this by stopping over with my brother in Cambridgeshire and charging at his house using a granny charger.

 

The Zoe is doing over 200 miles of range even in the cold conditions.  The really big difference in the 5 rather than the Zoe is going to be the public DC charging rate which is twice as fast on the R5, liquid cooled battery pack, compared to the active air cooled pack in the Zoe.

 

The reports say the R5 is a good drive, will soon see in a few weeks, ie March, just how the R5 stacks up compared to the Zoe, same battery pack size of course. 

Charge curve looks fine, similar to 92 kwh Scenic but not quite as handsome as my 65 kwh version ie good to 45% SOC, OK to 75%, after that probably time to get on the road.

Will see, thought aboiut the 40 kwh LFP version and will keep as eye out on the specs as it might be a bit bigger than 40 kwh and of course can be charged to 100% easier rather than usually only charging to 80,85, 90, 95 % as one does with the NMC Lithium batteries Renault have used so far in their cars.  The R5 has 11 kw V2L as well which could be finanically good too.    

 

https://evkx.net/models/renault/5/5_e-tech_52kwh_150hp/chargingcurve/#google_vignette

  

 

It is interesting that the Media car for journalists to borrow in the UK has All Season tyres fitted.  Those should be a Option with cars in the UK. 

 

Also it is strange how they size of screens and control position are mentioned but really nothing said about how good or not the position will be when the controls are to the left hand side of the driver and the central screen requires glances or looking to the left.

The symbols on screens are plentiful and maybe not needing looked at often but they are pretty tine for those with older eyes.

 

..............

OK. for All-Seasons in the size. and cost. 

 

Michelin Pilot Alpin 5. 

 

 

 

 

Edited 25 January, 20251 yr by Ootohere

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 27 January, 20251 yr by Ootohere

Some, including Electric Viking, kicking off that the Five "only" got 4 stars in Euroncap.

 

Euroncap seems more about counting safety systems more than crash testing which buyers should be aware what the Euroncap means these days.

 

Religating the Zoe from five stars in 2013 to no stars in 2021, when it basically has the same shell and auto braking plus several other safety measures ie sign reading etc.

 

Personally feel safe in the Zoe as i will in the 5.  Fair bit better than the 850 mini use to zip about in.

 

Edited 26 January, 20251 yr by lol-lol

 

https://media.renault.com/renault-5-turbo-3e-legend-reborn-as-a-production-model/

 

That rear diffuser is not going to meet EU Type Approval is it? 

Not even meet a IVA in the UK. 

UK built MINI Cooper Electrics do not have an 'Autohold' button if stopping at lights etc so keep the foot on the brake pedal, hold on the accelerator, or you need to apply the e-Brake or you do have 'P' though.

 

@lol-lol  The battery thing is interesting.  a 40 kW lighter car has a WLTP 193 mile range, and the different battery type with just 12 kW more capacity in a heavier car can do 100 miles more. WLTP. (fiction.)

100 miles more for the 12 kWh,  8.3 miles a kWh.  Nonsense.

It will be interesting what a 52 kW battery car can do as in miles if it is only charged up to 40 kWh. 

 

Once they get Right Hand Drive ones on the OEM tyres they can maybe run them together and see. 

 

193 divided by 40 is 4.8 miles a kWh

293 divided by 52 is 5.6 miles a kWh.    Looks like nonsense from a heavier car even with a different battery type. 

Or is it the smaller battery lighter car is when tested under a WLTP Regime less efficient? 

 

 

 

Edited 31 January, 20251 yr by Ootohere

1 hour ago, Ootohere said:

UK built MINI Cooper Electrics do not have an 'Autohold' button if stopping at lights etc so keep the foot on the brake pedal, hold on the accelerator, or you need to apply the e-Brake or you do have 'P' though.

 

@lol-lol  The battery thing is interesting.  a 40 kW lighter car has a WLTP 193 mile range, and the different battery type with just 12 kW more capacity in a heavier car can do 100 miles more. WLTP. (fiction.)

100 miles more for the 12 kWh,  8.3 miles a kWh.  Nonsense.

It will be interesting what a 52 kW battery car can do as in miles if it is only charged up to 40 kWh. 

 

Once they get Right Hand Drive ones on the OEM tyres they can maybe run them together and see. 

 

193 divided by 40 is 4.8 miles a kWh

293 divided by 52 is 5.6 miles a kWh.    Looks like nonsense from a heavier car even with a different battery type. 

Or is it the smaller battery lighter car is when tested under a WLTP Regime less efficient? 

 

 

Looking forward to a good full test on the "nominal" 40 kWh battery vehicle.

 

The 40 kWh figure is going to be very nominal and Renault have a longish history of giving models a model name including a figure for the battery size but the actually battery size can be 10% or even more different to that figure.

 

The Zoe ZE40 was nominal 40 kWh but legend has it that it was actually as high as 45.6 in total, I have head it had as much as 20% of cells that were on standby, it was certainly more way than than 40 kWh.

 

And my smaller battery Scenic, nominally 60 kWh but the Scenics had an upgrade LG Chem battery packs from the Megane etechs as this next batch of LG batteries had superior energy density by about 5% so is my Scenic actually 63 kWs, EV database quote actual total battery at 65 kWh.  The car's BMS is definitely holding back a couple of KWh in reserve at the bottom end, maybe one at the top, the Zoe ZE50 seems to hold about 3 or 3.5 at the bottom end and 1 or 1.5 kWh at the top ie it displays 100% but keeps on accepting charge for quite a bit longer.

 

If I was to guess I would fully expect the 40 kWh LFP Renault 5 to be around 44 kWh but Renault will not want to let that out the bag as they want punters to spend more and buy the nominal 52 kWh version.  I am strongly thinking, like my 60/63/65 kWh Scenic that the smaller battery version could be the better buy especially with it lapping up charging to 100% where the Lithium NMC versions will be saying oh no please only charge me to 80, 85, 90, 95% like my NMC Scenic does.

 

Looked for any test drives on the LFP 5 but not seen any yet.  Renault dealership here in Burtie Worcestercestshire already lining up to get me in to a 5 in March but I will play my usual hardball and say I might wait for the LFP version. 120 hp but with quite a good torque figure, 9s to 60 rather than 8s, I can live with that.

 

Hopefully a game changer, the press seems unusually excited and hope it lives up to the hype.    

 

 ^^^ He reads out very different WLTP Figures than Rory Reid gave on the Autotrader video.   

He said 40 kWh battery 193. 52 kWh 293 miles.  Then said 4.8 miles a kWh 'they say' which is 192 & 250 miles.

 

'In the damp, in the wet getting a bit of wheel spin, loving that'.   

B0llocks, All-Season tyres on and wheel spin yes, loving it???  OEM Tyres will be a ninsense.

 

Edited 1 February, 20251 yr by Ootohere

48 minutes ago, Ootohere said:

 ^^^ He reads out very different WLTP Figures than Rory Reid gave on the Autotrader video.   

He said 40 kWh battery 193. 52 kWh 293 miles.  Then said 4.8 miles a kWh 'they say' which is 192 & 250 miles.

 

'In the damp, in the wet getting a bit of wheel spin, loving that'.   

B0llocks, All-Season tyres on and wheel spin yes, loving it???  OEM Tyres will be a ninsense.

 

 

He got the 293 just plain wrong. I have heard 248 and 253 miles for 52 kwh. I think a lot of these journo wordsmith struggle to convert kilometers into miles.

 

The conversion should 1.60934, some seem to use 1.6 and some seem to use 8 kilometers is 5 miles, maths not many of their strong point it seems.

 

@lol-lol  do you use your brakes with an EV even if there are no Regen paddles or shifter with B or whatever.

I never ever brake into corners even nipping on and never have, but then having only one foot it is what suits me.

I lift off and then accelerate round bends.

Coming to a stop is the only time i use the brake pedal.  Or it would be an emergency stop. 

 

PS

I can not use Launch Control on cars that require hold the brake and the accelerator and then releasing the brake pedal..   PPS. Cordless rechargable tyre pressure inflator and torch is great. Check pressures, adjust.  Simple. More of these Vloggers need to adjust tyres pressures I think. Or check them.   £13. 

Edited 1 February, 20251 yr by Ootohere

2 minutes ago, Ootohere said:

@lol-lol  do you use your brakes with an EV even if there are no Regen paddles or shifter with B or whatever.

I never ever brake into corners even nipping on and never have, but then having only one foot it is what suits me.

I lift off and then accelerate round bends.

Coming to a stop is the only time i use the brake pedal.  Or it would be an emergency stop. 

 

PS

I can not use Launch Control on cars that require hold the brake and the accelerator and then releasing the brake pedal..

 

Yes similar. Renaults regen does not bring car to stop ie not one pedal driving so it needs a dab.

 

Marked difference in regen when battery cool, ie not much, to lots ie 30 kw plus when warm and battery SoC less than 90% ie room to put high levels back in.

 

Other than that foot brake is just for emergency braking. Literally drive with the panels doing the regen as the brakes. Level 1 is freewheeling and then 2,3 and 4 is mild, mid and strong respectively.  Looking at the energy stats the regen can add more than 10% to the range on non motorway journeys.

 

 

 

 

Edited 1 February, 20251 yr by Ootohere

Sounds like the LFP, lithium iron phosphate battery version of the 5 will not be around until towards the end of the year, can order from June maybe, perhaps a month or 3 later in the UK.

 

Battery size is stated as 43 kwh on EV database for the nominal size stated as 40 kWh.  Going to be a difficult choice between 52 and 40 nominal battery sizes. Like my Zoe ZE50 the 52 kwh battery R5 is 55 kwh including buffers etc.

 

Going by the WLTP ranges of 194 miles and 248 miles these cars would need to be doing about 4.8 to 4.9 miles per kWh which would be good going.

 

I just watched the CarGuru vid again and see said 255 miles.   It is just pick a number any number.  52 kw/h @ 4.9 miles to a kWh.

 

I am getting a Road Test when a car available.

Choice of Dealership being Arnold Clark Dundee or Parks Hamilton at Brechin.   Roads right outside Brechin best to see just how many miles a kWh it does on higher pressure tyres. 

Starting to lean towards the Alpine A290, just the mild trim of 180 hp. Price is not a huge amount more than the 150 hp R5 but seems to be much more attractive.

 

Renault UK already doing £555 off the R5s, finance good but not great ie 5.5 % APR, I got 4.9 % on the Scenic.

 

Maybe better finance deals about if interest rates are cit this week ahead as expected.

 

Edited 3 February, 20251 yr by lol-lol

One website reckoned the R4, built on the same platform and using the same battery packs and motors, would be from 30,000 K Euros uop to 38k Euros.

 

Sounds about right, £25k to £31.6k for version with all the bells and whistles. This depends on RoE staying about 1.2 Euro per pound but it all could change.

EU economies could take a big hit if the US buys a lot less EU goods, GB may do quite well out of Trump's antics.

 

JLR may regret moving a chuck of its car production from the UK to EU !

 

Maybe Stellantis will maybe extend its Ellesmere Port site and JLR its Hailwood site with these punitive tariffs in place ?

 

When stuff was done 8 years ago Donald Trump had just become President for the first time.

Now as he is President for the 2nd time there is just 4 years until he is gone and then a New Brush will be in to sweep all before it.

 

As to luxury vehicles, some do like to pay lots to show they can pay lots. 

 

The Tariffs on US products to China like Coal, LNG, Vehicles and Heavy Plant and machinery will be interesting to watch.

 

 

 

http://

Edited 4 February, 20251 yr by Ootohere

The more i see the more i like. 

Flimsy (light) is ok with me as long as practical and does not break.