Renault execs say the Zoe will outsell the Nissan Leaf in Europe

When it comes to battery-electric vehicle sales across the pond, Renault's Zoe will get the better of the sibling rivalry against the Nissan Leaf.

That's what Renault is expecting will happen when it starts selling the Zoe later this year, according to Automotive News and, to make sure vehicles will be available, Renault will have an annual production capacity for the Zoe of as many as 150,000 vehicles. To compare, Nissan will be able to build just 25,000 Leafs at its Sunderland, UK plant when that comes online early next year. Globally, Nissan will be able to make over 200,000 Leafs a year once all its plants go into operation.

The Zoe is about eight percent shorter than the Leaf and, more importantly, about half the price thanks to a battery lease program of around $110 a month. Renault debuted the production version of the Zoe at the Geneva Motor Show in March, and spelled out a price of less than $21,000 in France (in U.S. dollars, after government incentives) and about $21,400 in the UK. Those lower price tags should attract plenty of EV customers, even though the Zoe will have a single-charge driving range that's about 30 percent shorter than the Leaf's.

Despite relatively low sales of the Renault Kangoo utility EV so far, Thierry Koskas, Renault's EV project director, said that he still expects EVs to account for 10 percent of new cars in Europe by the end of the decade.



Source: Autoblog Green