Renault Zoe - Reliability and safety

The Renault Zoe has been on sale for over a decade at this point, and in that time it’s proven itself to be a very reliable car with no major issues reported with either the first or second generations of the small, simple electric car. The previous-generation model also consistently ranked high in our Driver Power owner satisfaction surveys, receiving praise for their running costs and powertrain in particular.

However, some buyers may be concerned by the Zoe’s safety rating. Euro NCAP awarded the Zoe a full five-stars for safety in 2013, with an 89% score for adult occupant protection and an 80% rating for child passenger security. The industry body then tested the latest model in December 2021 and, due to more stringent assessments and certain features not being offered as standard, it failed to achieve a star rating. 

The Zoe scored 43 per cent for adult safety, with a 52 per cent rating for child passenger protection and just 14 per cent for safety assist technology. It didn’t perform well in the frontal offset crash test, and fared even worse in the side pole test which simulates hitting a tree or lamp post side-on. 

Renault's decision to remove a head airbag from the list of safety kit counted against it, as did the lack of lane-departure warning or autonomous emergency braking (AEB) on the Zoe. Renault rectified this in January 2022 by making both safety technologies standard on the car, with other safety features including parking sensors, a reversing camera and a suite of safety aids including blind-spot monitoring and lane-keep assist.

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Warranty

The Zoe is covered by a three-year warranty with unlimited mileage during the first 24 months, then limited to a total of 100,000 miles or three years, whichever comes first. The battery on the Zoe also comes with a separate 8 year/100,000 mile warranty.

Servicing

Service inspections are required annually, or every 18,000 miles. Renault also offers its Easylife service plans for the Zoe – covering three years/30,000 miles, or four years/40,000 miles.