Details On Renault Zoe ZE 40 Battery Packs

With the new Renault Zoe ZE now on the market, more information is now available about the updated model’s lithium-ion battery pack, revealing some interesting facts.

Notably, despite possessing an energy storage capacity nearly twice as high as the first-generation Zoe (an estimation), the new battery pack is only 15 kilograms heavier (~9%).

What this means is that battery chemistry and/or packaging improvements are the main driver behind increased energy storage capacity — and thus, the costs for the battery packs (per kilowatt-hour/kWh) were probably notably reduced.

Push EVs provides a nice overview of what’s known about the first and second generation battery-packs:

First generation battery:

• Total weight is 290 kg (280 kg are quoted in the video, but in every other source is 290 kg)
• Total capacity is 25.92 kWh (192 x 36 Ah x 3.75 V = 25.92 kWh)
• Available capacity is 23.3 kWh
• 192 cells, each with 36 Ah nominal capacity and 3.75 V nominal voltage
• Total cell weight is 165.12 kg (192 x 0.86 kg = 165.12 kg

Second generation battery:

• Total weight is 305 kg
• Total capacity is 45.61 kWh (estimation by knowing the usable capacity)
• Available capacity is 41 kWh
• 192 cells, each with 63.35 Ah nominal capacity (estimation) and 3.75 V nominal voltage
• Total cell weight is 180.12 kg (estimation by knowing the total battery weight)
• The total battery capacity can be even higher, because last year a LG Chem worker told me that the new cells were 65 Ah, not 63.35 Ah that I estimated in this exercise, as you can see here. If the real capacity of the cells is 65 Ah, this give the battery a total 46.8 kWh capacity.

Very interesting information.

With the solid sales performance of the first-generation Renault Zoe, despite its limited range, I’m very curious to see how well the second-generation Zoe will sell. The updated model really should be able to meet the needs of most European buyers, even without an extensive, easy-to-use fast-charging network (like Tesla’s Supercharger network).