Renault ZE Expert EV dealers go live

Following the launch of the all-electric Kangoo Z.E. in the UK (see News Story) Renault has announced the first batch of 21 Expert dealers to take care of sales and aftersales of its electric vehicles (EVs). They have all completed a comprehensive sales staff training, site upgrade and infrastructure programme.

Each site has a minimum of two trained sales specialists able to bring private and business customers alike up to speed on the funding, charging and battery hire options available. A Kangoo Z.E. van is also on hand for customer demonstrations.

On the service side, a manager and two technicians have undergone specialist training so that they can cope with and understand the demands of the new technology and become familiar with the new tools they have been provided with. Specialist ramps and equipment to deal with the service and maintenance of EVs have also been installed.

Z.E. Expert dealers have also invested in three Chargemaster charging points per site, supplied and installed by Renault’s UK preferred partner, British Gas. There’s one each for the workshop, demonstrator area and car park. The latter one is accessible for all customers to use. There’s also a dummy domestic charging point in the showroom.

“I'm delighted to see so many of our dealers embracing this new era of electric transport,” said Thierry Sybord, managing director of Renault UK. “With a full range of four fully-electric models set to launch in the UK in less than one year (see picture below), we have high hopes for our Z.E. range. I'm sure our Z.E. Expert dealers will reap the rewards on both sales and aftersales and we look forward to charging ahead with them in the months and years ahead as we seek to attract as many electric vehicle buyers as possible.”

The current 21 Z.E. Expert dealerships are:
Renault Manchester, Renault Birmingham, Renault Liverpool, Renault Leicester, Renault Cardiff, Renault London West, Renault Enfield, Renault Croydon, Ness Inverness, The Co-operative Bradford, Seward Portsmouth, Donnelly and Taggart (Londonderry), Charles Hurst Belfast, Vospers Plymouth, Motorline Maidstone, Benfield Newcastle, Bristol Street Exeter, Westover Poole, Marshall Milton Keynes, Smiths Peterborough and Toomey Basildon.

First UK Z.E. Customer

The honour of being the first dealership to hand over the keys of a Kangoo Z.E. to a customer goes to Marshall Milton Keynes. Patrick Chard, managing director of local business Murrays the Printers was delighted to be the first customer. Collecting the van, he said: “It is fantastic, very exciting to be first. We made a conscious decision a couple of years ago to be as green as possible, from vehicles to printing presses and with everything we buy. The Kangoo Van Z.E. is the first electric van to market from a manufacturer and it ticks every box for us. We can now deliver locally with zero emissions and make considerable savings on fuel costs over a period of time.

“Renault talked us through the whole electric process and have been really good, so we had no concerns or reservations about purchasing the van. Our charging point is installed at the office; we are all ready to go. It is the same size as the diesel version, with the same load capacity and I’m just looking forward to getting out there and being able to make cheaper deliveries with zero emissions. It is a win-win for us.”

More information on all aspects of running a Z.E. EV can be found here.

Kangoo Z.E has been voted the International Van of the Year 2012.

VansA2Z was behind the wheel of a Kangoo Z.E. on the Brighton to London Future Car Challenge 2011.

What the Renault Z.E. range of EVs will look like by the end of 2012 with (from left to right) the single-seater Twizy, Fluence saloon car and Clio-sized Zoe joining the Kangoo…

ze-range-2012