By the time I get to Dublin on the 22nd after 1,400kms I should have formed some solid opinions. The reviews on Youtube have varied from very positive to rapturous with the one exception, the rear passenger leg room. It’s a tradeoff and Renault have prioritised boot space, which actually suits us.
Do have a look at the “handbook” videos I linked to. It’s a very well thought out little car.
It’s a shame that the displays and videos explain the use of the ‘break’ system though. I’d have expected better attention to detail.
I haven’t noticed, but I have been watching the French ones. I prefer the female voice over and not having to listen to MPH conversions.
Coincidently, the i4 keeps showing me a steaming coffee cup and telling me to take a break.
Matt has been driving EV’s to their limit again - tl;dr range is still an issue and, yes, in the UK you will find a fair few chargers that are out of action. Oh and “fuel” prices higher than dinosaur juice if you have a long journey to make.
Interesting, what surprised me was the reliance on the screen in the centre of the dash out of eyeline of the road. I’d compare it to using a mobile phone maybe but I’ve never driven an electric car.
Mark I think they used the centre screen for ease of filming except in the Tesla which only has the centre screen. Most have a display in front of the driver.
I realise that, but its just a display or HUD. The controls are all on the touch screen which I would think needs looking at more than just momentarily (unless there are steering wheel controls which put the touch screen up on an HUD).
Yes agreed, fumbling around at almost arms reach on a screen is not good as I have found on my infotainment system. Fortunately its mainly radio or music changing as physical buttons are still for most things.
I only watched the conclusion but I don’t think this test is really representative of how one drives an EV. First of all they all have more than adequate range for day to day driving. Secondly, one doesn’t drive long distances the same way in an EV as a ICE, which is pretty much what the video emulates. I’ve no doubt our 82 kWh i4 is as quick A to B on long distances as any ICE I’ve owned, just that now coffee and pee breaks are also charging breaks.
I am however a bit trepidatious about the R5 52 kWh trip to Cherbourg. I suspect that’s going to mean a lot more charging stops than would be required for coffee or peeing. In the ICE past I’d do the 1,200km in one or two stages with an overnight halfwayish, and that’s still OK with the i4, but I’ve scheduled two overnights with the R5.
Both reasonable points IMO - equally I don’t think the test is invalid if you want to know something about the long range motorway performance of these vehicles. Also I don’t think there is any particular bias in terms of reporting the state of charging stations - which, on the motorway network at least, seems rather hit and miss as to whether there will be a decet number and whether they are working.
Yes, you’d stop and charge. In the real world you wouldn’t run an ICE vehicle to the point of stopping for lack of fuel either.
However for my ~310 mile drive which I normally do in two legs conveniently split by the ferry crossing I would have to add a stop where I would not normally do so - even if I only needed to add 50 miles of range to be comfortable.
No longer interested in high performance, I like this bus.
That is a really big issue. While pushing up past 80% is time wasting, being afraid to go below 20% because the charger you’ve been directed to may be US is nerve-wracking. Because of my confidence in the autoroute charging network, I’m going to operate the R5 between 10% and 90%. That’ll give me 41.6 kWh between charges instead of 47.9 kWh in the i4 operating between 20% and 80%. Well that’s my plan anyway 
I wonder if there’s a recharging service like the RAC’s in France?
I wonder how much that would reduce the range? 
Looks good and only $22,842.00, plus the
the i4 has a tow bar, but the R5 doesn’t 
Quite a bit but it should reduce range anxiety along with it 
Remind me why cars with electric transmission were never a thing - it works for trains.
They were
They were 
Must have been a reason they didn’t catch on.
Ah, this could have been hy
Considerably lighter than the i4 and not too much heavier than the R5.
I guess the cost issues persist.
It is an option though, just in case some people think it’s not.
