What a Car - UK - (2020-04)

MAREKKOLODZIEJ

RICHARDPIPER

whatcar.com^ April 2020 39

Age 53

JobGraphic

designer

DrivesPeugeot 5008

“Imostlydoshortjourneys

aroundLondon,soI’mlooking

toswapmydiesel 5008 foran

electriccar;they’reeasierto

driveandinfinitelybetterfor

localairquality.

“IfindthenewZoevery

appealing.Ithasthekindof

chicinteriordesignthatFrench

brandsdoreallywell.Itfeels

upmarket,too;thematerialsall

feelgood.Eventhesoftsound

ofthedoorsclosingimpresses.

It’sleaguesaheadofrivalssuch

asthepricierNissanLeaffor

quality.TheZoe’sinfotainment

systemismuchslickerandmore

intuitivetouse,too.

“Althoughthere’sgood

spaceforthedriverandfront

passenger,atsixfeettall,Ifelt

claustrophobicintheback.It

mightbeastretchtouseaZoe

asmyprimaryfamilycar.

“AlthoughRenaultboasts

thattheZoecannowoptionally

rapidchargeat50kW,that’snot

agame-changerforme,because

I’dusuallybeslowchargingthe

carathome.The‘real-world’

rangethatRenaultquotesisan

impressive 233 miles,butthefact

thatitwilldroptoaround 150

milesincoldweatheriskeeping

meintwomindsaboutEVs.”

Age 65

JobRetired

DrivesBMWi3s

“Iwasalwaysapetrolhead,but

IwasofferedaspininaBMWi3

whilehavingmyMiniserviced

andwassoblownawaybythe

drivingexperiencethatIwas

aninstantconvert.

“TheZoehasalwaysstruck

measaveryattractivecarata

goodprice.Ispoketoanowner

recentlyandshegrumbledabout

thequalityoftheinteriorand

thelimitedrange,butbothof

thoseissueshavebeenaddressed

bythisnewmodel.

“Thequalityoftheinterior

isfabulous.Everythingisvery

nicelyfinished,evenifthei3’s

designismoreexciting.The

technologyisaheadofBMW’s

insomeareas,particularlythe

sat-nav,whichshowsyouthe

bestchargerstouseenroute.

“Thefactthatyoucannowget

theZoewithaCCSchargingport

forDCrapidchargingisamajor

stepforward.Previously,youhad

torelyonslowerACcharging.

“Aworry-freerangeofwell

over 200 milesisplentyforme,

andprobablyformostpeople.

Itmakesthei3andnewMini

Electriclookpoorincomparison.

“TheZoewouldbeanideal

firstelectriccarforanyone,but

personally,Iwantsomething

sportier.AZoeRS,perhaps?”

‘It’s leagues ahead of rivals such

as the Nissan Leaf for quality’

‘A worry-free range of well

over 200 miles is plentyfor me’

Spaceupfrontis ne,but6ft-tallMarekthinkstherearseatsfeelclaustrophobic

A CCSchargingportforpublicrapidchargingat a rateof upto 50kWis nowanoption

Qualityof thematerialsusedinsideis fabulous,accordingto EVconvertRichard

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