Just five days after the Renault electric Kangoo Van Z.E. first went on sale in the UK, it has won the What Van? ‘Van of the Year’ title.
Renault, which is Europe's number one van brand, also won the top award in the inaugural 'Website of the Year' category.
This latest honour marks the second year in which Renault have dominated the What Van? Awards. In 2010 they walked away with four awards in total, including the Van of the Year prize, which went to the New Master.
The Renault Kangoo Van Z.E. is truly a ground-breaking model, as it is the first 100% electric van produced by a mass market manufacturer across the whole world. Commenting on the decision to award this year's title to an electric vehicle the Editor of What Van? Paul Barker said:
"The Renault Kangoo Van Z.E. is a pioneering revelation, impressive for its normality to drive as much as its technology under the skin. For operators in the right circumstances, it will be worthy of serious consideration, and coming in at the price it has, gives the technology every chance of moving towards the mainstream. The judges were unanimous in the Kangoo Van Z.E. being a deserving winner of our Van of the Year title."
Mr Barker also commented on the award of the newly created title for Website of the Year to Renault, saying that the French manufacturer's site "offers operators everything they need at their fingertips, and plenty more besides."
When he heard of the double award for the firm, Renault UK's Director of Fleet and Commercial Vehicle Operations, Darren Payne, said:
"Two years ago, Renault stunned the industry with the unveiling of not one, but four electric vehicles. Now the fruits of our labours and the 4 billion Euros we've invested in the programme with our Alliance partner are starting to hit the market. We're the first manufacturer to produce an electric van ourselves, as well as make it genuinely affordable for businesses and organisations of every type through our innovative battery hire business model. We genuinely believe that electric vans have a great future, not just through their zero tailpipe emissions in use, but also their impressive performance, low running costs and more relaxed driving experience. Our engineers have also succeeded in developing Kangoo Van Z.E. without any impact to its payload and load capacity compared to the internal combustion-engined versions."
He also described the award for Website of the Year as being "the icing on the cake", and said that he was looking forwards to enjoying similar success for the rest of the Z.E. range when they are released over the years ahead.
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