Making EVs fun to drive: Part one

Back in 2009, I was leading the team developing the Renault Zoe. The only people crazy enough to dabble in electric vehicles back then were Tesla and the Nissan-Renault Alliance. I was walking through Renault’s enormous Technocentre engineering HQ near Versailles when I happened across two of the powertrain lads taking a break over coffee.

I caught only the tail-end of their conversation. They were chatting about how to boost the power output of the Zoe’s electric motor – arguing about just how fast it would theoretically spin, if they stripped one and hand-balanced the rotor so it could run over its 12,000rpm ‘redline’.