Renault EVs enroute Australia damaged due to oil spill onboard

Renault announced that a car shipment that was destined for Australia has been damaged due to an oil spill in the car carrier’s cargo area.

A large number of Renault Zoe EVs were a part of this shipment. The vehicles were being transported from Renault's Flins factory, northwest of Paris.

The shipment is said to have comprised of 120 Renault vehicles, of which 75 were Renault Zoe EVs. These cars were destined to reach private buyers as well as fleet owners. Other Renault vehicles that were a part of this lot included Clios, Kangoos and Traffic vans. The Zoe EVs accounted for 90% of the damaged cars.

The damaged vehicles were unloaded once they reached Australia and have been quarantined at an Australian port. The shipping company along with a third party and Renault are now involved in assessing the situated and taking further action as per requirement.

Anouk Poelmann, Managing Director, Renault Australia, said, “All affected vehicles will undergo a full inspection, and it is our commitment that no single vehicle will be released to our dealer network unless we are 100% satisfied that there is no impact on the exterior, interior or future reliability of the vehicle.”

Renault Australia has been able to deliver just two Zoe EVs since the beginning of 2019. The company has been facing large backlog of orders down under.