ZOE GT Line Plus - a few weeks in - questions

Onto vehicles
#1

So I have a new ZOE and I have to say a few weeks in I’m really enjoying it. It’s a great drive and perfect as our city car, although this is my first EV so I don’t have a lot to compare it to.

I have a few miscellaneous questions I was hoping someone may be able to answer?

1) Charging.
We charged during that really hot spell recently and it seems that whilst charging you can do very little inside the car. I wanted to open the windows, but couldn’t quite figure out how to! I did try pressing ‘Start’ and I eventually got them to open, but it appears somehow whilst doing this I managed to end my charging session! The User Guides don’t seem to cover this from what I can see, so if anyone provide or point me towards some info about all of this I’d be grateful.

2) The ONTO App
Ok, so not ZOE specific, but I get why we are encouraged to use the ONTO app regularly with regards to Total Miles left. That’s not really and issue for me as a) we don’t do anywhere near the mileage limit and b) there was only 75 miles on the clock when I got the car. My question is if I start to use the remote instead what real impact/implications will there be and if I do so and go back to using the App at a later date does the Miles Left catch up?

3) Z.E. Voice
I’m aware the ZOE emits a noise under a certain mph and that it can’t be turned off. I have no issues with that. However, there is a button in the cab linked to it, but I can’t seem to find out what it does / how it works. I may have seen somewhere that it can change the tone, but it’s not clear whether that is a quick press, a long press or whether in fact it does nothing at all - perhaps it is disabled. I guess I could find a quiet road somewhere and experiment, but as ever I like to see an explicit instruction somewhere and I can’t find one!

Thanks,

Mike

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#2

If you press “Start” with your foot on the brake pedal, the charge will terminate; however, if you press start without your foot on the brake pedal, it will turn the car’s electrical accessories on without interrupting the charging process and you can then operate the electric windows and stereo whilst continuing to charge. However, note that it’s not possible to use heating, air conditioning or heated seats whilst charging. You can use the fan blower whilst charging, but you may as well just open the windows or go and find some grass to sit on :slight_smile:

When you activate the electrical accessories in this way, note that they will automatically turn off again after a few minutes. If you want to force them to stay on, you can press and hold the start button; however I’m not sure if the 12v accessory battery is being charged whilst the traction battery is, so it’s possibly theoretically possible to flatten the 12v battery if the car is left in this mode.

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#3

There are three different sounds to choose from, all equally obnoxious! The button allows you to chose between them. If you drive slowly with the windows down, you can press the button and cycle through them to find the one you despise the least :slight_smile:

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#4

Dang! The break pedal! I think I’ve learned always to put my foot on it when pressing Start - Pavlov’s Dogs anyone! :joy: Thanks for this info.

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#5

Ironically I tried driving with my head hanging out the window, but worried about hitting a pedestrian! :joy:

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#6

Hi, there is a work around to get some heating or cooling whilst charging but it’s not very elegant and requires repeating every 10 mins or so. It involves the following.

  1. Lock the car
  2. On the Renault App initiate Preconditioning.
  3. Unlock the car.

The fan will be on full and temperature will be regulated using aircon or heater according to the last used temperature setting.

As I say not elegant but it worked for the 2021 models. Not tested in your new model though.:older_man:

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#7

Interestingly, having had a 2020 Zoe and a 2022 Zoe, I have yet to notice any significant differences between them. I think the only ones I’ve noticed are :

  • Key proximity is worse on the 2022. The 2020 would always unlock in good time and always lock when walking away. With the 2022, sometimes I’m tugging at the handle and it hasn’t noticed I’m there, and other times I can walk away and it doesn’t lock. I distrust it, so have disabled it.

  • Inductive charging for the phone seems better about not moaning there are metal objects on the charging pad on the 2022

  • Z.E. Voice (or the “choir of dead people” as described by Johnny Smith) now can’t be disabled, as we know.

  • The 2022 always blocks the screen soon after setting off to throw up a pointless message telling me that there are no charging stations in range. This is obviously untrue and is also irrelevant seeing as it has done it when I’ve been on 100% charge. Although this is probably a software annoyance and may retrospectively also affect the 2020 and 2021.

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#8

I have to agree about that annoying message just after setting off. I had the feeling it was incorrect too and now that’s confirmed!

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