The amount of electric cars on the road is growing and growing. Together with the electric cars, the charging infrastructure is also growing. The popularity of electric cars keeps rising thanks to all the manufacturers that come up with modern models. One of these models is the Renault Twizy. How good and usable is this affordable Twizy?
Figures of electric driving
Before we start this report I would like to tell you something about the recent figures of electric driving. The number of sold electric cars keeps growing and growing. The Netherlands for instance have already 6247 electric cars and 4867 charging stations. This makes them one of the leading countries in Europe. If you place this number next to the number of inhabitants you’ll see that The Netherlands have almost 2,5 electric cars among 10.000 inhabitants while other countries won’t even make 0,5 electric cars per 10.000 inhabitants. United States excluded because I don’t know the exact numbers of the electric cars in the United States.
Difference in transmission
Customers want to get the best information about the possibilities of electric driving before they decide to buy an electric car. It is possible to drive a completely electric car but the demand for plug-in hybrids is bigger. Plug-in hybrids have a range extender which makes it able to drive completely electric but as soon as you run out of electricity the range extender starts working. Just like the name says, it extends your range. The range extender is a small combustion engine which uses a generator which generates electricity for the electric engine. A completely electric car only uses a big pack of batteries and these cars don’t have a range extender.
Renault Z.E.
The Twizy is part of the Renault Z.E. program. The letters Z.E. stand for Zero Emission. Four years ago, Renault presented its first electric car based on a Renault Kangoo on the Paris Motor Show. One year ago, three other models were presented on the IAA in Frankfurt. The Kangoo Z.E. is a van. Especially as family car, Renault developed the Fluence Z.E. with five seats and an exchangeable battery pack. The small and compact Zoe Z.E. was presented as a city car and finally the first version of the Twizy was presented to the public. Meanwhile, all four cars are taken into production by Renault.
Twizy as a modern city car
Renault saw success the Germans from Daimler A.G. had, on the Europese market for small cars, with their Smart’s. That’s why the French came up with their first concept of the Twizy, in 2009. At that time, the Twizy wasn’t ready to be produced but meanwhile it is a car which you can see in many big cities. The Twizy is a very suitable city car and that’s exactly where the car is made for. When you want to drive outside and drive long distances, you have to find another car. For those who are looking for a cheap and fun car in the city, there’s the Twizy.
Design and electric
Of course, you can buy a ‘real’ car on gasoline or diesel for the same amount of money but this is a completely different way of driving, electric driving is also fun! Renault has made a car where the design was a very important factor in the development of the car. With a length of 2.3 meters, a wheelbase of 1.7 meters, a height of 1.4 meters and a width of only 1.3 meters, the Twizy is very, very compact. Though, you can still sit in it with two people. Those two people are placed behind each other and because the (optional) doors open upwards, it’s quite easy to step into the car, also for the passenger. Taking place on the passenger seat is something you need to practice a few times but eventually it will be very easy. The space in the backseat seems to be limited but even ‘bigger’ people can sit quite comfortable in the back seat.
Driving experience
The central seat in the car is something you have to get used to. Because the Twizy isn’t that wide you will soon drive to far on the left side of the road, but after a short time you’re used to this. The Twizy will probably be less suitable in winter, because the fact that the car has no windows and heating it can be very cold inside. But this isn’t a really big problem when you’re only using it for small rides, and that’s where this Twizy is made for. Many of you will think that the Twizy can’t be driven in the rain because it has no windows but this isn’t a real problem. When you’re driving the rain doesn’t come in the car unless it’s windy. To prevent you from getting wet, Renault will come up with optional windows in a short time. These windows can be mounted in the doors in only a few minutes. Driving the Twizy is a real experience.
Drawing attention in a Twizy
Despite the fact that Renault sol dalmost 8000 Twizy’s in Europe, the car still gets a lot of attention. A lot of people take an extra look at the car when it passes by to see what they’re dealing with. While driving the Twizy it stands out that the car draws a lot of attention. A lot of people take a look at the car and when you’re parked they ask you a lot of questions about the range, the type, and the top speed of the car. Funny fact is that most of the people already know that the car is named ‘Twizy’ because of a commercial of Renault with the famous French deejay David Guetta.
Safety
Everybody will understand that you must not leave some valuables in your car but especially not in the Twizy, because this car is completely open. And the interior is made for this, it is made for all weather circumstances so the car has almost no extras. So this results in a quite boring interior but it is rather funtioncal. Behind the seat of the passenger you’ll find a small storage space for, for instance a laptop. You can bring your shopping bags by placing them on the left or right side of your seat or on the passenger seat. For things like this the doors are very useful because they create a lot of storage space.
Specifications
The Twizy is available in two models, the ‘Twizy’ and the ‘Twizy 45’. The last of two is a version which has a top speed of 45 km/h. But not only the top speed is a difference, there are more. The normal Twizy has a top speed of 80 km/h and has a range of 100 kilometers while the Twizy 45 has a range of 120 kilometers. With a turning radius of 6.8 meters, the Twizy is, no matter which version, very agile. The top speed of 80 km/h is easy to reach and but when you’re driving on this speed it will have a smaller range. Especially in the city center this is a very usable car.
Easy recharging
Renault uses the 3CG electric asynchronous engine, this engine runs on electricity. The Lithium-Ion batteries produce a maximum power of four kilowatt in the Twizy 45, but thirteen kilowatt in the Twizy. This results in respectively five and seventeen bhp. Renault says that the batteries will be fully recharged in 3.5 hours. In 2.5 hours it will be recharged for 80 percent. You can even recharge your Twizy with a simple socket.
Price of a Twizy
The price of a Twizy consists two parts: purchasing the car and also the price for the batteries. Renault has a special construction to rent the batteries. You pay a certain amount of money for the batteries plus insurance. Next to that you have the purchasing of the car itself. The Twizy is seen as a special sort of car but it has a normal car license plate. The Twizy 45 as well as the Twizy are available in the Urban, Color and Technic version. The difference between these three versions are the way of personalizing the cars. A Twizy 45 has a price between 6990 and 7890 Euros and for the Twizy this price is between 7790 and 8690 Euros. These prices are excluding options. The options on the version in this report cost an extra 10.000 Euros.
Conclusion
Renault made a perfect city car with the Twizy. The Twizy is trendy, practical and outstanding. For the same amount of money you will get a normal car but when you’re prepared to pay this much money for a Twizy, you want to drive something special. The range in the city is more than enough partly thanks to the low recharging time. In only a short time, you can recharge the necessary kilometers. The car is allowed on highways but I discourage this because you only have a top speed of 80 km/h. The car is perfect usable in the city and that is exactly what Renault aimed for with the Twizy.
Jeroen Olthof
