There’s no greater entrepreneurial headache than maintaining a fleet of vehicles. One of the pioneers that has proven to be both indestructible and highly cost-effective is the Kangoo ZE, introduced back in 2013. Its only drawback is the lack of fast charging. Owners never had to worry about employees or third-party drivers wrecking the crankshaft, breaking the flywheel, or damaging other components due to carelessness or neglect, as EVs simply don’t have those parts.
However, a catastrophic mistake was made when Renault partnered with Nissan and adopted their poor-quality battery system components, particularly their cells. The battery has no thermal management system and uses cells with the worst chemistry, highly prone to degradation and swelling. A new battery costs around €12,500 with taxes for a 22kWh capacity, which is utterly unsustainable. Despite the ultra-reliable Q210 Continental powertrain, the battery has been Kangoo ZE’s Achilles’ heel.
Entrepreneurs grappling with EU regulations and other imposed obligations often have no choice but to electrify their fleets (like GLS). Yet, what the EU offers is garbage by any measure of common sense or financial feasibility. The most logical choice, instead of Stellantis junkyards, VW ABT factory defects, the Mercedes eVito, and similar options, is to refurbish the Kangoo ZE or purchase a Chinese EV that doesn’t come with problems for which there are no parts, solutions, documentation, diagnostics, or similar challenges—unlike EU models. Given what the EU offers for entrepreneurial electrification, it’s often better to stick with a Euro 3 Diesel.
For this particular Kangoo ZE, the first failure occurred after 10 years and 115,000 km. That’s why we decided to offer entrepreneurs an alternative: by recycling new automotive modules (Samsung SDI, CATL, Panasonic) from other vehicles in a sustainable way, we developed a new battery system to save the Kangoo from the scrapyard.
We used 50Ah 4C 12S Samsung SDI modules, recycled the original wiring, and designed a new module layout and wiring system. We also successfully reset the BMS to clear the LBC battery system error and remove the vehicle from limp mode. What some refer to as “battery trash” or “who will recycle this” has been repurposed for automotive use as part of a second-life cycle.
At an external temperature of 5°C, the vehicle now achieves a range of about 94 km before complete shutdown (at 2.8V). While we haven’t tested it in warm weather yet, the range should reach approximately 120 km under optimal conditions.
Alert :
Partnumber: 293A0HB86B, 295105251R,
OEM: 10000 EUR (ex Tax)
EVC: 5000EUR (ex Tax)
Reduced weight 105KG
