Most older used Renault and some early Nissan electric vehicles have battery leases to keep the purchase price lower.  This means you own the vehicle, but rent the battery pack. Also Smart ForTwo Electric Drive vehicles had the option to lease the battery pack, but these agreements were different to the Renault & Nissan arrangement detailed below.

While this leased batteries are now longer available on new EVs,  it has served a good purpose in the early years when battery prices were much higher.  It also kept the initial purchase price down, helping the transition to electric motoring.

When Nissan and Renault first launched electric cars in the UK in 2011, there were plenty of scare stories in the press about how long battery packs will last and the cost of replacements.  These all turned out to be complete rubbish, yet is still believed by many today, some 12 years later!  To sell the new cars, Nissan and Renault took the battery pack out of the equation, so you purchased the car and rented the battery pack. They then took responsibility for the battery pack and guaranteed it for the lifetime of the vehicle. This took away the doubt and worry from the purchaser and also made the new vehicles considerably cheaper.

However, when looking at older used electric vehicles, the battery lease model still makes good sense, especially those on a tight budget or worried about battery degradation. 

Battery rental prices

The Zoe & Kangoo pricing has now changed to a term-less scheme, where you simply pay based on mileage alone.  All others are (currently) based on both mileage and term. As you can transfer the lease without penalty if you sell the vehicle, most owners signup to the longest term to keep the rates low. Having a fixed term agreement is completely pointless as you only pay for the battery while you own the vehicle and your obligations end when you sell the vehicle and transfer the battery lease.

All battery rentals include VAT, except the Kangoo ZE which are listed excluding VAT.  The VAT is obviously reclaimable for a business.  Other mileage terms are available.

Important update Feb 2020: It has become apparent that Renault can now longer replace or repair the Fluence battery pack, due to lack of parts availability. Customers who take their vehicles in to Renault for battery repairs or replacement are being offered the option to purchase the battery. One customer, who had a battery at 73% SOH, was given the option to purchase the battery for £1,750. This seems unfair that the battery rental agreement is continuing on all existing Fluence vehicles when Renault can't honour their side of the battery lease agreement! However in the UK, there are only 51 of these cars left on the road in 2020.

Buy out of the lease

Nissan did allow owners of early FLEX model to purchase their battery packs to cease the battery lease. The battery purchase has to be processed by a Nissan dealership. The majority of the used Leaf FLEX models in the UK have had their packs purchased now, so a Leaf with a leased battery is now pretty rare.

Renault didn't give owners the option to purchase their battery pack until March 2020. Now all owners of battery lease vehicles (Twizy, Zoe, Kangoo & Fluence) have the option to purchase their battery pack from RCI at any time. The purchase price is based only on the age of the vehicle. The older the vehicle (i.e. battery pack), the cheaper the purchase price is.

For an idea of costs, in 2021 a 6 year old 2015 Renault Zoe 22kWh battery would be £2,600-£2,800 to buy out of the lease. Earlier cars cost more. ZE40 batteries cost considerably more!

If you purchase the battery pack, the warranty on it will revert to what was offer on new vehicles at the time of manufacture (i.e. with battery owned models at the time, so 'i' models in the case of Renault). Typically this was a 5 year battery warranty on new vehicles.  So if your vehicle is now over five years sold, you don't get any warranty cover if you purchase the pack. If you vehicle is younger, you get the remaining warranty cover.

You also have to remember that an owned battery EV costs significantly more than a battery lease model. So if you purchase your battery pack, it is likely you will get more than that cost back when you come to sell it.

Battery hire vehicles are cheaper

Battery lease vehicles are an affordable way to buy an electric vehicle and for some, maybe the only way to get into an EV. With used battery lease vehicles costing £3,000-£6,000 cheaper than battery owned models, it makes them more accessible or maybe you can afford to have a newer vehicle that is still covered by the manufacturer's warranty.

Many compare the monthly battery hire fees to the cost of buying petrol or diesel.  This is an unfair comparison. The cost of the battery hire should be compared to the cost of buying the equivalent battery owned EV, or the cost of the finance to achieve this purchase. Plus you get a guarantee on the battery and roadside breakdown cover included.

Insurance

When insuring your electric vehicle with a hired battery, you need to include the battery in the declared value of the vehicle.  The insurance value of the battery is stated in your agreement, but it is typically around £6,500.  If the car cost £6,500 and the battery value is £6,500, then you declare the vehicle value at £13,000 and make sure they note that it is a hired battery pack.  While the hired battery arrangement did confuse insurance companies initially, most have now caught up and now fully understand the arrangement and it doesn't increase your insurance premium.

The reason why you must make sure the battery pack is insured is if you had a serious accident and the car was written off and the battery pack wasn't recoverable, RCI would want the replacement value for their battery and you'd want to be released from the hire agreement.

Selling the vehicle

When you sell a vehicle with a leased battery, you simply transfer the battery hire to the new owner, but that owner starts a new agreement based on their expected mileage. The process is a very simple and if its all done via email, it can be completed within a few hours.

• a proposal form with the new owners details is sent to RCI 

• the new owner will receive a new agreement document for signature

• once this has been received by RCI, the process is completed and the vehicle can be released

Your commitment and payments stops as soon as this happens.

Exporting a vehicle with a hired battery

The battery agreement for both Renault and Nissan vehicles is with RCI Financial Services, part of RCI Bank UK.  Vehicles cannot be exported to other countries, unless permission is sought first from RCI  and only if RCI have a presence in that country.  A cross country transfer process is available to the following countries/territories: 

Exports to Malta were possible by transferring contracts to RCI Italy, but this process is currently on hold due to problems setting up the agreements.  A new solution is being sought and transfers may be possible in the future.

Battery replacements

When hiring your battery, it has a guaranteed state of health, which is typically 75%.  The rental agreement requires the battery to be repaired or replaced. Renault have now opened a battery centre in Wolverhampton so batteries no longer need to be returned to France for repair or refurbishment. This centre is now replacing individual cells in battery packs, so its good news that this work is being done in the UK. If a vehicle requires battery work, your local Renault dealership will transport the whole vehicle to battery centre, as it is easier to transport the whole vehicle, than just an individual battery pack.

Many people ask if you can get a battery upgrade - i.e. replace a 22kWh battery with a 40kWh battery.  While yes it is technically possible to upgrade the batteries in vehicles (as long as the battery is contained within the same enclosure), it is unlikely to happen in hired battery vehicles now. Renault were doing 22kWh to 40kWh Zoe battery upgrades in late 2017 in some European countries and was muted to be available in the UK in early 2018. However, it never has materialised in the UK.  In early July 2018, at the Oxford EV Summit, I spoke to the Renault ZE Range Manager for Renault North Territory (i.e. head of electric vehicles) and he confirmed that the upgrade facility will not be available in the UK and has now been withdrawn across Europe too. This is a great shame, but I guess understandable, as Renault is in the business of selling new cars and not upgrading old ones. They also struggle with battery supply and keeping up with the demand for new orders, so such an upgrade program would put extra demand on battery supply,

The cost of these battery upgrades was published, even though the facility was never available in the UK. These were:

• For hire batteries - £3,100 fee, then you pay the ZE40 hire rates which are £10 per month extra.

• For owned batteries - £8,700 on a part exchange basis or £13,100 if you keep the old battery pack.

Photos of the upgrade being done on a Zoe in Holland can be found here.

In the near future, other companies will be offering battery repairs and upgrades. This is something that will grow over the coming years as the demand starts. Some are already working on early Nissan Leaf batteries in the UK, but its all early days yet and until the EVs get older, there's not enough demand yet for anyone to make a business from this service. However, if you have a leased battery, you do not own the battery, so you cannot upgrade it.  It could be possible to get a Renault dealership to remove the battery and return it, ceasing your hire agreement, but you have to pay for this work. Then you'll be free to fit an third party battery pack. No one yet offers this, but it looks like Twizy owners may have the option later in 2019.

Word of warning when buying a vehicle elsewhere

We've heard of many instances where people are buying a battery lease vehicle from other dealers, including main Renault dealers, where they are expected to sign the battery hire agreement before seeing the car.  This is because the dealer hasn't yet got in the car and are purchasing it to order.  Do NOT do this, if the dealer hasn't taken on the battery agreement themselves first. If the car turns out to not be in the condition you were expecting, you cannot walk away from the purchase as you have committed yourself to the battery hire.  You're then taking all the risk, whereas the motor dealer should be doing this.

When a motor dealer buys in the vehicle, they have take on the battery hire themselves while they have the vehicle in stock. This is why many motor dealers, including Renault dealers, don't deal with second-hand battery leased vehicles. In these circumstances above, the dealer is trying to miss out the step of taking on the battery hire themselves, by registering the battery hire straight to the customer. The trouble is that you've committed yourself to a vehicle that neither you or even your supplying dealer hasn't yet seen! It goes without saying, this isn't the case with vehicles from Go Green Autos. We take on the battery hire for all vehicles purchased.

Also be very wary of older Renault Zoe or Kangoo models that aren't 'i' models and the seller tells you that the battery is owned or there is no longer a battery lease on this vehicle. Many dealers do not understand the battery lease transfer process wrongly describe the vehicle. There are cases where battery lease vehicles are purchased and sold by both individuals and motor dealers where they don't understand the battery lease arrangement and the vehicle ends up changing hands without RCI being kept informed and the lease doesn't get transferred. Don't believe you've bought a vehicle with an owned battery. RCI will still own that battery pack and will catch up with you one day and you could be liable for all the backdated rentals. On some vehicles, RCI can also remotely turn off the battery pack if their agreement terms have been broken, as they still own the battery.

However, now that lease batteries on older vehicle can be legitimately purchased (since March 2020), older vehicles can now have an owned battery. If buying one, you must have proof that the battery was purchased. Look for an invoice from Renault Retail or a letter from RCI confirming the sale. Also do a data check on the vehicle to make sure there is no finance marker against the vehicle. If you're unsure, contact RCI themselves and ask.

Some dealers advertise vehicles claiming that the battery is owned, but a new lease can be started if you prefer this. This is not the case and again this is where dealers do not understand the process. A battery owned vehicle will be worth many thousands of pounds more than a battery leased vehicle.

Some vehicles are sold without batteries and the seller claims that a new battery can be purchased or leased. Again, this is not the case as you cannot start a new lease for a new or used battery pack. Such vehicles are insurance write offs or scrapped/end of life vehicles, where its original leased battery pack has been removed and returned to Renault. The vehicles are then usually sold by CoPart auctions and get purchased by people who do not understand this and do not realise they've purchased a vehicle without a battery - we get calls every month from those buyers! These vehicles are not cost effective to put back on the road. A new battery pack has to be sourced from Renault. They may also need coding to the car, so can only be fitted by a Renault dealer. The cost of this would be thousands and never worth doing. You may be able to source a second hand battery pack (typically from a crashed vehicle), but these very rarely come up for sale and fetch good money, so probably not cost effective and worth entertaining.

Battery health guarantee

Your battery agreement guarantees the battery to a minimum state of health. This was always to 75% capacity and to 60% on the Kangoo ZE22. However, RCI made mistakes in agreements, so some owners of Kangoo ZE22 may be at 75%.

The terms have since changed on newer agreements and now all vehicles will have a 75% SoH warranty until it reaches 10 years old and then it drops to 60% SoH.  The Kangoo ZE22 remains at 60%.

New agreements states:

"We shall provide you with a Battery that has sufficient charging capacity (“Battery Capacity”) for the term of this Agreement and any extension to the term. The charging threshold is a Battery Capacity of at least 75% of the battery’s initial capacity until 10 years since the vehicles 1st warranty start date. Then 60% of the battery’s initial capacity after 10 years since the vehicles 1st warranty start date. If battery is Renault Kangoo (20kWh 22 kWh) we shall provide you with a Battery that has sufficient charging capacity of 60% of the battery’s initial capacity. Except KU22 ZE which will be 60% on all Battery’s."

How can I check my battery?

Checking the current state of health of your battery isn't something that the owner can easily do. There is a battery health gauge on the Nissan Leaf and E-NV200, but this is only a rough indication as the display just shows 12 bars. No such display exists on Renaults or other EVs.

The ways you can check your battery health are:

Main dealer

A main dealer will typically charge a standard diagnostic fee of around £120-£180. You also have the inconvenience of loosing your car for most of the day. However, what is worse that is the information they give you back is often wrong. The battery reports Nissan produce aren't worth the paper they're written on and it seems every battery gets a clean bill of health, regardless of the actual state of health.

Independent garage

While most independent garages will have diagnostic equipment, many have no experience of EVs yet. However, a HEVRA garage should be able to do this for you.  Or there's also mobile diagnostic facilities from Go Green Autos and Cleevely EV.

DIY using an app

By using a suitable bluetooth or WiFi OBD dongle and a phone app, you can diagnose your vehicle yourself. LeafSpy is a common app for the Nissan Leaf and CanZE for the Renault Zoe. But if you've not used these before, it can be quite a learning curve and buying the correct ODB dongle can be a bit hit and miss. You're best to use the forums, Facebook groups or YouTube first for some advice if you're new to this.

Scanner hire

We hire out a suitable scanner for the Renault Zoe and Renault Kangoo ZE, which allows users to check their own vehicles. This is a cost effective way of finding out your battery's current state of health and we provide all the instructions to make it simple to do. Go to Renault scanner hire for the full details.

Sample agreements

Here are samples of the RCI battery agreement documents for both individuals (including sole traders) or companies (Ltd, plc). You can also download the battery proposal form, which is the initial fact find form that is given to RCI to allow them to raise the agreement document.

Further questions?

You're welcome to contact me if you have questions regarding battery leases.  All Renault & Nissan agreements are with RCI Financial Services Ltd who now trade as Mobilize Financial Services, based in Maple Cross.  You can contact the Electric Vehicle Team directly on electricvehicles@mobilize-fs.com or tel 0330 3310 220.  RCI/Mobilize look after all of Renault, Dacia, Nissan & Infinity finance and are a subsidiary of RCI Banque based in Paris.