Renault Kangoo Maxi ZE 2016 small van review

The Holden Combo used to own the minuscule small van market in New Zealand but lately, the bigger player has been the Volkswagen Caddy, with the Peugeot Partner and the Renault Kangoo playing a minor bit part.

Now that Air New Zealand is leading the charge (pun fully intended) to electrify its ground fleet, Renault has taken the opportunity to launch the plug-in Kangoo Maxi ZE (zero emission) in two long-wheelbase versions, a two-seat cargo van, and a five-seat crew van. 

In Europe, electric vehicles such as the Kangoo van are used for short-radius distribution deliveries in city centres such as Paris where there are restrictions on emissions as well as noise generation.

While these European issues are not yet applicable to the New Zealand market, there are definite advantages here in terms of service costs and exemption from road user charges, as well as a known fact that the majority of our electricity is generated by renewable resources such as hydro and wind, not coal, gas, or nuclear fusion.

Unsurprisingly Renault New Zealand decided wisely to solely take the Maxi version of the Kangoo which offers 4.6 cubic metres of cargo space, a 1.86-metre-long cargo bay with 1.218 metres of width between the rear wheel arches, and a decent payload capacity of 650kg.

Longer items up to 2.7 metres will fit into the Kangoo Maxi thanks to the collapsible bulkhead which swings around the driver’s seat, while the passenger seat folds forward into the floor space.

The Kangoo ZE is great fun to drive, it handles very well, has an excellent turning circle, reversing is made easy thanks to the rear parking sensors, the steering has a positive and precise feel to it, and the electric motor offers plenty of response when necessary.

The dual side doors and rear barn doors make getting boxes and other stuff in and out extremely easy in one-way streets and areas with tight parking spaces, and as a workhorse, it fulfills the role well.

Did I miss having a fossil-fuelled vehicle? Not in a heartbeat.

Thankfully a specific feature of the Kangoo is the Z.E. Voice function which emits a sound to warn pedestrians of the vehicle’s approach.

This system is activated at speeds of between 1 and 30kph, but there is no sound at a standstill. Despite this feature, Auckland pedestrians seemed oblivious to the oncoming presence of the Kangoo ZE, so I became quite adept at tooting and waving at people who blithely jaywalked across city streets right in front of me.

Recharging the Kangoo can see a variance in available range, and this depends on how the vehicle was previously driven. After a day of gentle running, the recharge brought up a range of 129km, the following day which wasn’t so gentle, saw the recharge range at 119km.

So, on the conservative side of the ledger, 100km would be a good yardstick for people to use if they are seriously considering electrification of the fleet.

For me, running 11km door to door, and having a charging station meant during the review period I never seemed to drop below a range of 80km.

Because the Kangoo ZE fully charged itself in a couple of hours, I had to run down to the car park and move it, because etiquette dictates that you don’t leave your fully charged vehicle hooked up unnecessarily when other folks might need it.