Renault UK goes a different way
Renault just yesterday delivered their first Kangoo Van ZE in the United Kingdom. One thing that makes Renault’s approach stand out from Nissan’s model in the US is this – Renault is choosing to sell (or lease) the vehicle without the battery. The battery is then leased separately. The battery lease price is based upon the term – 12 month increments from 12 months through 60 months. It is also based upon the mileage – 3,000 mile increments from 6,000 miles annually through 15,000 miles annually.
This reduces the cost of the base vehicle. In the case of the Kangoo Van ZE starts at £16,990. The battery lease will run anywhere from £60 per month to £105 per month, depending on duration and mileage. At current exchange rates, these costs equate to roughly $26,600 to acquire the vehicle and $94 to $165 per month to lease the battery.
Without getting into a deep analysis, which we are not prepared to do at the moment, we don’t know how the financial details fare compared to the Nissan model in the US. Certainly one potential advantage of the Renault approach for the consumer, is the shifting of the unknown battery life to the manufacturer. Without having a real-world consumer database of information to draw from, the battery life and condition is the big unknown for everyone at this point. For those who like the idea of an electric vehicle (EV), but want to minimize the financial risk, this could be an interesting way to go. For those, though, that would prefer to buy the battery outright… at present, that does not seem to be an option.