Renault ZOE (2013-2019) interior & comfort

It goes without saying that the ZOE is quiet. It even emits a noise below 20mph to warn pedestrians, cyclists and your neighbour’s cat that it’s coming – a noise exactly the eerie whine you imagined a flying saucer would make when you were a kid.  

Renault has stowed the ZOE’s battery underneath the rear seats where a conventional fuel tank would go, which has left a fairly conventional and useful layout. There’s space for four adults, a sizeable boot and a dashboard that features quite a lot of grey plastic, but it's easy to use and smart to look at.

Renault ZOE dashboard

The ZOE has a simple dashboard layout, with a touchscreen as its main focus and the rest of the switches are where you'd expect them to be. There's a lot of slightly scratchy plastic making up the bigger swathes of dashboard, but the gloss finishes break it up nicely and as a whole it’s an easy dashboard to use and a pleasant one to look at.

Equipment, options & accessories

The ZOE range started with the Dynamique Nav, which featured Renault's R-Link touchscreen system, Android Auto and TomTom sat nav. There was also climate control, Bluetooth, electric windows all round, automatic lights and wipers and rear parking sensors. S Edition was the other, more lavish spec; it added a BOSE stereo, leather-finished seats, the option of 17-inch wheels and a rear parking camera.

Infotainment, apps & sat nav

The ZOE’s seven-inch touchscreen isn’t the fastest-responding screen, and the graphics look a bit old-fashioned, but you get UK sat nav, Bluetooth and audio streaming, USB input and DAB as standard. Plus, the menu layout is straightforward and the icons big enough to prod accurately. You also get Android Auto, but the lack of Apple CarPlay will bother some buyers.

Some cars will feature an upgraded sat nav with Western European mapping, and even live traffic updates, but you have to renew the subscription after three years for the latter feature.