Renault Zoe EV production car at 2012 Geneva motor show

Renault had a surprise up its sleeve at the 2012 Geneva motor show – the new production version of the Zoe electric car will cost just £13,650 in the UK.

That’s after the Government’s Plug-in Car grant which pays up to a quarter or £5000 of an electric car’s RRP, and makes the Zoe a more attractive proposition than other electric cars to date.

Renault says the new Zoe is priced to be an equivalent to a diesel-powered supermini. But you’ll have to add in monthly battery hire, starting at £70 a month. That includes breakdown cover – and a charge-up if you have a flat.

The French claim the Zoe is the production EV with a range of more than 130 miles on the NEDC cycle. But Renault provides the caveat that in city use drivers will more likely see between 62 and 92 miles depending on the weather (the range extends in warmer conditions and shrinks when it’s cold).

The Renault Zoe has a 65kW electric motor, equivalent to 89bhp, promising reasonable performance. At up to 18mph, it'll emit noises to warn pedestrians of your silent approach.

How clean is the Zoe? Renault quotes around 62g/km across Europe, although that plummets to 12g/km of CO2 in France where much of the electricity comes from nuclear fuel.

Thanks to a new universal charger, the Zoe can be charged at various power points, taking between half an hour and nine hours. And a fast charger will be available for just £2700 – around a quarter the cost of earlier systems.

The Zoe measures 4084mm long, placing it slap bang in supermini territory. It's an attractive small car with five seats and a 338-litre boot. Thankfully, much of the concept's elegance is retained for the production Zoe.

‘We wanted Zoe’s design to embody both a sense of breakthrough technology and core automotive styling cues,’ said styling project manager Agneta Dahlgren-Hermine. 'The car’s eco-friendly dimension is expressed in its pure lines which appear to flow along the bodywork. Its contemporary proportions combined with sculpted volumes make Zoe a reassuring and captivating car.'

The Zoe is part of Renault’s big electric car push, joining the Fluence, Kangoo van and Twizy EVs. The company continues with its big electric project and plans to reduce its carbon footprint by 10% by 2013 and a further 10% by 2016.

By Tim Pollard