Matt from Go Green Auto’s knew of my desire to upgrade the battery for the Zoe and get more range, so he sent me this article - well it seems that someone just did the swap and went with it. Is it really that simple?? 
RCI better be ready to swap mine to an upgraded one at 75% of capacity 
I was equally keen to upgrade the 22kW battery to the new 40kW - after all there is no technical reason why not and in fact it was originally designed for the job. BUT, and yes it’s a big BUT, it appears that Renault UK in combination with their battery lease partner RCI have now decided that they will not be offering existing 22kW owners the opportunity to upgrade.
They confirmed that it was originally intended that this upgrade would be made available. Little surprise therefore that the Renault dealer we bought our Zoe from sold the battery lease option to us with the potential to upgrade being one of the main features. I have received formal confirmation from a senior Renault UK customer service member of staff that they are not intending to provide the upgrade. When I asked where this was on any publicly available information source none was provided.
How many people are expecting to be able to upgrade their 22kW Zoe battery and;
How many other people out there were sold the benefit of leasing the battery that they could in future ?
It’s a shame Renault would play hardball over this. They’re obviously worried about affecting new car sales, but I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt them too much because they’d make some very happy customers who’d be more inclined to buy Renault again in the future.
By saying no to the upgrade, they’re just making it easy for customers not to trust them.
I think you can contact RCI Customer Services and explore the issue. Given that you can cancel a contract and start a new one with them, I believe swapping a battery might be possible if you prompted it. I am waiting for the battery to reach 75% SOH, at which point they are obligated to swap it, and an opportunity to upgrade. Their phone number is 0333-200-2237, talk to Aaron, he’s great
Hi James - yes couldn’t agree more on your view on Renault’s approach.
Hi Crazy Twizy, yes I went to the RCI customer service line first and this was their reply “Thank you for your recent communications with us regarding upgrading the Battery in your vehicle. Unfortunately, battery upgrade is not something that is available in the United Kingdom for the foreseeable future. This was a joint decision, after much deliberation, between ourselves and Renault UK, whom we would reply on to complete the works.”
I then thought I would double check with Renault themselves and this is what they said “I was able to confirm that there was going to be a Battery Replacement Scheme. Unfortunately, due to the financial costs that would be incurred to the customer to have it upgraded and they would still not own the battery, it has been agreed it is not viable option and the scheme has been discontinued.”
So they confirm that the replacement was an option - and sold us our battery lease option when this understanding was in place, and have now gone back on that.
What do others think of this approach ?
Regards Tim
Sounds to me that it’s Renault, not RCI that can’t be bothered to honour the battery swap scheme. Most likely due to untrained mechanics. For those that own their batteries, there is nothing to stop an upgrade with RCI out of the picture. Maybe I will call Aaron and see if he can get a different perspective - this was a feature to future proof a well maintained vehicle as I like my vehicles to have a lifespan over 10yrs… I will report back with any new findings.
Hi There, I hope you have some luck with that. When I asked Renault “Customer Care” that specific question they said “Unfortunately, there will be no option to upgrade your battery with Renault, whether you own it or not.” It would be interesting to see what Aaron says. As you say it was all about future proofing and sold to us as part of Renault’s commitment to a “Circular Economy” (Renault France are main partners of The Ellen MacArthur Foundation with that as a strategic focus).
I look forward to hearing more. Regards Tim