Renault Scenic E-Tech Review

The new Scenic E-Tech is only available with a front-wheel drive, electric powertrain that offers an impressive WLTP range of between 260- and 379 miles. Given the long range and generous equipment that it gets as standard, it’s one of the better value electric family cars, as well as being smart inside and useful to live wit - all reasons why it won the European Car of the Year in 2024. 

Range, Battery & Charging

The Renault Scenic E-Tech gets two batteries to choose from, offering 60- or 87kWh usable capacities (65- or 91kWh total capacities) with a maximum WLTP combined range of 260- to 379 miles respectively. 

That's impressive range, especially given that the big battery starts at under £41,000 - so you should go further in between charges than you will in an equivalent Skoda Enyaq, VW ID.4, Peugeot e-3008 and even the much more expensive Tesla Model Y. 

In our various brief drives in the Renault Scenic Long Range, we saw 3.2 miles per kWh in fairly mild temperatures and mostly faster driving, which is good for a real world range of 270 miles. That’s a bit disappointing given the claimed range, so hopefully with more time in the car we’ll see it return better efficiency. 

Charging speeds are good on the Scenic, too, with a peak 150kW charging rate (130kW on the smaller battery car) being on a par with or better than many rivals, although the Tesla Model Y, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 will charge at over 200kW. When plugged into a powerful enough rapid charger, the Scenic can suck up enough electricity for a 20-80% charge in around 25- to 30-minutes. A 7kW home charger will manage a full charge from nearly empty in some 13 hours.    

Practicality & Boot Space

The Scenic is a very useful family car, in that it’s got masses of leg- and headroom in the back seats plus plenty of cubbies and comforts around the cabin. There’s even a rear centre armrest that has two phone charging sockets and a phone stand. But we’re disappointed that there isn’t more flexibility to the Scenic’s interior. Sure, the rear seat backs split and fold flat in a 40/20/40 fashion, so you can fold just the centre section down to carry your curtain rail back from Ikea, while also having four passengers comfortably on board. 

But those rear seats don’t slide or recline, nor are they removable, which is the sort of useful feature that you might expect of a car wearing a model badge that was famed for its utilitarian values. More than that, while the 545-litre boot is a great capacity that’s rivalling the Skoda Enyaq iV for sheer volume, it’s a fairly short but incredibly deep boot space that’s a far less useful shape than the long, flat boot floor than you get in the Skoda. 

Renault has told us that it’ll introduce a variable boot floor to the Scenic so that you can make the floor flush with the boot lip, and have the huge underfloor area for hiding your cables away, but we’ve not seen a car with this feature and nor is there any sign of it on the configurator yet. Do clarify that point with the dealer, if you’re shopping for the Scenic, as it’s no small matter. Without a variable floor, you may as well throw a coin into the depths of the boot and make a wish for a good chiropractor, as loading heavy items over the boot lip and down into its depths will be a back-breaking task.

Overall, if you’re expecting the Scenic to just be a spacious crossover-SUV in the same template as chief rivals like the Peugeot e-3008, it probably won’t disappoint. If you’re expecting MPV practicality tricks and seating flexibility, you’ll be underwhelmed. 

Interior, Design/Styling & Technology

The Scenic’s interior finish is really rather plush – especially if you go for the Renault Scenic esprit Alpine model, with its flashes of blue trim, sports seats and Alcantara upholstery. There’s a fair bit of gloss plastics about the place, which will get a bit fingerprint-smeary, but the Scenic really does feel classy inside. You also get a big, 12-inch portrait touchscreen that dominates the whole fascia and is a very good system to use thanks to the in-built Google software that includes Google Maps. There’s over-the-air software updates like you get on a Tesla, too, as well as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto so that you can use your phone’s apps on the car’s screen. 

Equipment is very good; even the cheapest techno model gets 19-inch alloy wheels, a heat pump for more efficient winter running, reversing camera, metallic paint, automatic LED headlights, keyless entry, heated front seats, blind spot warning, adaptive cruise control and more. This would be our pick of the range, as it’s great value for so much equipment and that long driving range. The esprit Alpine gets fancy styling tweaks inside and out, but doesn’t get any performance or suspension upgrades, so sports car fans who are expecting sporting ambitions from that Alpine branding will be disappointed. Top-spec Iconic gets 20-inch wheels, a panoramic glass roof and Harman Kardon sound system.

Design-wise, the Scenic looks very sharp and modern, if rather similar to some other new rivals including the Peugeot e-3008. It sits on the same CMF-EV platform as the (smaller) Renault Megane E-Tech and (bigger) Nissan Ariya. It’s a very similar size the Nissan Qashqai, Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tucson and all of the other family SUVs that it competes with.

Motors, Performance & Handling

The Scenic gets 215bhp and will do 0-62mph in 8.4sec, which is fairly modest power and pace by the standards of some rivals. In practice, though, it’s gutsy enough to feel confident even in a fast motorway merge – just don’t expect it to be fizzy and exciting, as this is very much a soft, comfy family car that majors on pleasant, serene progress. And that’s as it should be, really. There are variable drive modes, including an Eco mode to make the most of the potential range, and a Sport mode for those spirited moments, but mostly it’s happiest pottering about in Comfort, and enjoying the weildiness afforded by the light steering and smooth acceleration. You can toggle through the regenerative braking modes via paddles on the steering wheel, which allows you to turn it off altogether or dial it right up to very heavy braking that’s just a bit less aggressive than the ‘one pedal’ driving mode you get in the Nissan Leaf and various other electric cars. It soaks up potholes and patched up road surfaces nicely, too, making this a fairly zen-feeling family car even by electric vehicle standards.

Running Costs & Pricing

The Scenic can look pricey at first glance, given that it starts at £37,495 for the Comfort Range and £40,995 for the Long Range, but the entry-level ‘techno’ trim that you're getting at these prices is so well equipped that you don’t need to add anything - nor go for the higher spec models that mostly add style stuff. And for a car with that long range, high charging speeds, plenty of space inside and a high quality interior, it’s comparably very good value. Do look carefully at the monthly finance deals on offer. They’re not bad on the Renault, and you can get the techno Long Range for around £450 per month with a £5000 deposit, but the Skoda Enyaq 82 is quite a bit cheaper on a monthly basis and has interest-free offers, so could be better value (despite a higher list price) if you’re paying on finance. 

A full charge in the Renault Scenic will cost around £20- to £25 on a typical domestic electricity tariff, or you could cut that to under £9 if you use an off-peak, overnight tariff. Even without an off-peak discount, the Scenic should cost around half of what it costs to fuel an efficient petrol car provided you’re not charging at public chargers – which are much more expensive - too frequently. 

Verdict

The Scenic is a really great electric family car; it’s safe, pleasant to drive, roomy inside, stuffed with equipment and has one of the longest ranges of any electric car at this price. We’ve docked it a star for not being as efficient in the real world as we’d like, and also for having a very peculiar-shaped boot and not as much seating flexibility as some might be hoping for. If that variable boot floor materialises, and the efficiency proves to be better when we’ve spent more time in it, this could well be up there with the best large family cars on sale and may warrant a coveted five star rating. 

Until then, there are some flaws, but the Scenic is still an excellent contender for those buyers who are after a roomy, comfortable, long-range family car.