There's an element of truth to what Renault's saying. The Zoe scored badly under the Safety Assist category – with Euro NCAP criticising its lack of features like automatic emergency braking and lane assist. Some of these will be introduced next year –which suggests it could be the chip shortage that is preventing them from being included now. Not having these features doesn't mean the Renault Zoe is fundamentally an unsafe car (structurally, it's no worse than the old model which scored five stars in less stringent Euro NCAP tests in 2013). If you want to consider an alternative, we'd recommend a Peugeot e-208 or Fiat 500 Electric. Both have been awarded four stars by NCAP but bear in mind that their standard specifications may have changed too.