[Starmonkey]

Another tale for this thread...

Zoe - Q210 2013 owned from nearly new (900 miles on the clock) back in October 2014.

No problems (bar the occasional BCI) for 11000 miles and 18 months of happy motoring.

Last month I plugged into a local Podpoint charger which promptly tripped and went blank. From then on I was unable to fast charge on any charger, however, slow charging was still ok.

Booked into Evans Halshaw Sheffield who replaced the charging system after two weeks (hire car provided after contacting Renault UK) Picked it up last Friday, seemed to be working again but got an error message by text while charging on Sunday saying the charge had stopped unexpectedly. Returned to the car to find the 'Electrical failure - Danger' message on the screen. Flat bedded back to Evans Halshaw who now tell me they need to replace the traction battery, so currently in another hire car!

My experience is that the dealer has been pretty poor at keeping me informed, but Renault UK have been helpful.

 

[yoh-there]

PEC: Ah, R240 territory. I stand corrected, and thank you. A day nothing learned is a day not lived.

 

[Buzzar]

Wow "Replace the traction battery" now that seems extreme!

 

[yoh-there]

Remember the battery pack is what in aviation is called a "line replaceable unit". If there is one single cell broken or if the computer (rather small box located under the "chimney") has lost it's mind, the entire thing will be replaced. A dealer cannot open it. And, at least for my country, nor can the country organisation; they will be shipped to France and refurbished.

FWIW: great policy. If you accidentally drop a spanner in an open battery pack you might end up with a huge fire. And that is just one scenario, there are worse. You can loose a hand in the blink of an eye if things go south.

 

[donald]

.... they will be shipped to France and refurbished....

I reckon they all go to a warehouse with 'savons pas' on the door, and get dumped there.

 

[yoh-there]

And you'd be wrong (sorry). Even the below 75% SOH ones (read: not suitable for the car anymore) are refurbished. In this case to stationary systems.

And why would they not? The repair of any battery pack system, a pretty high value item, is extremely simple. The only problem is that while simple, it needs specialized equipment and staff because of the dangers involved.

 

[donald]

..... the below 75% SOH ones (read: not suitable for the car anymore) are refurbished. In this case to stationary systems

Oh really?

I bet there is not a single example of this ever happening - yet.

 

[yoh-there]

To keep the mildly off topic part alive ;-) ....

This is the R240 motor. The part in the center is the charger. The deep black connector is orange in reality and connects to the charger connector in the nose. The black thing on top is a fan. The box on the left side contains all the inverter and interconnect stuff. From the description posted by @Kotek Besar the two boxes together are the PEC. In reality the PEC could, or could not include the charger part.

Edit: I checked a few other pictures and they are indeed one one structure.

 

[Mo1]

Oh really?

I bet there is not a single example of this ever happening - yet.

Just to take it back off Topic

Connected Energy and Renault to collaborate on energy storage and EV charging technology | My Renault ZOE electric car

 

[springmus]

On a positive note, my car came back one week ago with a new inverter, and no more errors have occurred.

Well, except the heater stopped working two days after I got it back. But I can live with that for a while.

 

[emc]

. I would be extremely careful to fight your fight in this public arena. Sure it can create leverage, but it can also create a "drop dead you" attitude. Rest assured that Renault UK and maybe your dealership follows this thread with more than casual interest and as said, the result can work for you or against you. If they will conclude at some moment in time feel there is literally nothing they can do to make you happy, rest assured they will do nothing.


They may even have affiliated forum dwellers who are prepared to fight their case :/ poor renault uk they cant allow anyone to publicly give their personal account of the poor customer service they have received and highlight renaults disregard for consumer rights. It's just not fair!!

 

[King Ming]

On a positive note, my car came back one week ago with a new inverter, and no more errors have occurred.

Glad to hear you have your car back, @springmus . New inverter, is the different from the PEC, or just another name for it? As I recall, your car was displaying the same errors as mine, right?

Well, except the heater stopped working two days after I got it back. But I can live with that for a while.

Yikes! I'd send it back right away. Definitely don't delay.

 

[bitmanev]

i know from experience; they (Renault) will have staff browsing forums / Youtube etc for sure.

 

[King Ming]

i know from experience; they (Renault) will have staff browsing forums / Youtube etc for sure.

Well in that case Renault must apparently be perfectly happy with it being publicly known that they and their dealerships have absolutely no regard for The Consumer Rights Act 2015.

 

[yoh-there]

In the R240, the inverter is part of the PEC (as I recently learned ).

In the Q210, the inverter is in the box sitting between the BCB and the motor. That box is called the PEB. All those acronyms are further explained in this spreadsheet.

 

[springmus]

Glad to hear you have your car back, @springmus . New inverter, is the different from the PEC, or just another name for it? As I recall, your car was displaying the same errors as mine, right?
Yikes! I'd send it back right away. Definitely don't delay.

Thanks, I'm sorry about all the hassle you have to go through.
It was the same error. I'll refer to yoh-there for the inverter/PEC explanation.
I'm going to call them about the heater on monday, I just need a tiny little break from not having my own car.

 

[emc]

i know from experience; they (Renault) will have staff browsing forums / Youtube etc for sure.

Don't know about you but I've had some pretty suspect pm's from people who avidly defend renault at all cost to question my motives. Asking what renault need to do to make me happy and to discourage me from sharing my experience on forums. Could just be zoe fans though . Not that I wouldnt be a fan if my experience was more favorable I might add.

 

[bitmanev]

yep, yep; you have always some fan boys at all cost who don't want to see / hear any bad about their Zoe

i have been working in the past at a company who had active staff members active on forums, youtube etc... and don't forget the vote / review sites too...

 

[Starmonkey]

Update - new traction battery has arrived from France and should be fitted tomorrow! How exciting!

 

[Badger in Black]

The law says that if a new car presents a fault within six months of delivery I must allow the dealership one opportunity to repair it. I did that, they failed

I think it was earlier in this thread but you are slightly misreading/para-phrasing the law. Yes you only have to give them a single opportunity to repair the fault but they can only repair it after it has been diagnosed. If they cannot replicate the fault a correct diagnosis is next to impossible. They clear the fault codes and then try to reproduce the fault to see which codes re-appear. If they cannot get the fault to occur it complicates matters. Once they have diagnosed the fault then a single repair should be all that is needed.

Even if this does happen and you then go down the rejection route the most recent legal advice we have been given is that the amount of the refund is the current retail market value of the car, which might not be enough to cover any outstanding finance. As I said previously though this is largely untested through the courts with regards to cars.