Open up your mind and say, ahh...

By Jim Hill, Wired UK

Renault’s fleet-leading electric car, the Zoe, is all charged up for its European launch next year. It’ll be one of the most affordable and forward-looking EVs on the road when it arrives.

The French automaker has no fewer than four electric vehicles in the works, including the others are the Twizzy, Kangoo and Fluence. But it’s the small and practical Renault Zoe that’s set to become the mass-market model. Renault hinted that the cost will be a little less than a Clio dCi (£14,800, or $24,000), with a government subsidy making it one of the most affordable electric cars around.

After driving a nearly production-ready prototype in France, it looks like a tempting deal.

The Zoe is similar size to the popular Clio, but Renault went beyond modifying an existing model. Electric drivetrains are smaller and lighter than combustion engines. That means the Zoe can take a more aerodynamic teardrop shape, with a blunt nose and tapered rear-end to cut wind resistance. Renault says the drag co-efficient is 0.29.

The limiting factor, as ever, is the battery. The car weighs 1,392 kilos (a bit more than 3,000 pounds), due in large part to the Zoe’s lithium-ion pack. The pack’s good for 160 kilometers (100 miles) on a full 8-hour charge, which seems like a realistic range. A 10-minute quick-charge is enough to give you 50 km (31 miles) or so, and Renault says the battery can be swapped in around three minutes.

Interestingly, you don’t actually own the battery with Renault’s plan; you lease it. That guarantees you’ll always have a working one and future-proofs your car as battery technology (hopefully) evolves.

The car I drove felt heavy with stiff steering and rattling interior, but I’m assured that’s because it’s a working prototype with a lot of miles. Renault says the real thing will be as nimble and silent as other electric cars. I don’t doubt it. The design is slicker and lighter than the Nissan Leaf, a car with a surprising turn of speed.

Propulsion comes from a 60 kilowatt (80 horsepower) electric motor with plenty of torque. Renault claims the Zoe will do zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 8.1 seconds. Top speed is limited to 84 mph because anything faster will severely impact range.

Zoe’s interior will be similarly high-tech with Philips Lighting and L’Oreal helping develop lighting and air conditioning to improve your general well-being as you drive. This feature wasn’t installed in the car I drove, but making the driver as alert and comfortable as possible seems like a good idea. A nine-inch touchscreen in the center of the dash will provide easy-to-read maps and battery-level indicators.

Designer Axel Breun told Wired.co.uk., “The Zoe is designed from the wheels up around Renault’s third-generation electric drivetrain. We wanted the car to look new and different because this is the future, but it’s still a practical compact car, so we don’t want it to look strange. It has a high belt line because of the battery. The large Renault logo on the front will feature on other Renault cars eventually.

“The light colours are softer and friendlier, which suits the technology and the wellness technology inside,” he said. “Philips is working with us on the lighting and Loreal will be helping us with a perfume and hydration diffuser.”

It looks like Renault is courting female buyers with the design and interior, and given Clio’s success that seems like a good strategy. What’s universally attractive though is the price. The Zoe will have the mass-market appeal that the EV market is crying out for.

Photos: Clément Choulot

The explosion of media channels and public events means that more people are being interviewed about more topics than ever before. It might even happen to you… and soon.

1. They call it giving an interview, not taking one, and for good reason. If you’re not eager to share your perspective, don’t bother showing up.
2. Questions shouldn’t be taken literally. The purpose of the question is to give you a chance to talk about something you care about. The audience wants to hear what you have to say, and if the question isn’t right on point, answer a different one instead.
3. In all but the most formal media settings, it’s totally appropriate to talk with the interviewer in advance, to give her some clues about what you’re interested in discussing. It makes you both look good.
4. The interviewer is not your friend, and everything you say is on the record. If you don’t want it to be in print, don’t say it.
5. If you get asked the same question from interview to interview, there’s probably a good reason. Saying, “I get asked that question all the time,” and then grimacing in pain is disrespectful to the interviewer and the audience. See rule 1.
6. If your answers aren’t interesting, exciting or engaging, that’s your fault, not the interviewer’s. See rule 2.

Men’s Health and Women’s Health have launched a joint search for the fittest bodies to feature in their respective magazines — and they’re doing so on Facebook.

From now until July 24, men and women are invited to submit photos of their physiques for a chance to be featured as a model in upcoming issues of either Men’s or Women’s Health.

The 10 men and women who garner the most votes will then be asked to submit short essays about their workout regimes, which will be reviewed by a panel of judges including NBA Rookie of the Year Blake Griffin, LPGA golfer Michelle Wie and UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. The judges aren’t necessarily looking for the “hottest bod,” they’re also looking for the most inspiring stories.

“We’re looking for those stories about the family guy working two jobs that finds a way to work out 30 minutes a night,” says MensHealth.com editor Bill Phillips. “We want to use these stories to inspire other people to get in shape too.”

On August 22, the panel will announce one male and one female winner who, in addition to appearing in one of the magazines, will also receive a three-night wellness vacation to El Dorado Royale in Mexico.

The initiative is designed not just to build up the Facebook fanbases of both magazines — although that’s certainly part of it — but also to give readers an opportunity to showcase what they’ve worked so hard to accomplish, and thereby inspire others to pursue a healthy lifestyle as well.

When the magazines published a joint slideshow feature on the best celebrity beach bodies earlier this year, they ran a callout at the bottom asking for users to submit photos of their “summer bodies.” Phillips says that more than 150 readers submitted photos in response.

“People really are proud of themselves and the work they’ve done and they’re proud to show it off to other people, he notes. “Ultimately we decided to put it on Facebook because it’s a very social idea,” he adds.

It’s also one that’s particularly on brand, we find.