Renault Megane E-Tech Review

Motors and Performance

The Megane E-Tech gets a 215bhp electric motor driving the front wheels, which delivers enough oomph for a 0-62mph sprint of 7.4 seconds. It does feel seriously nippy, especially if you select Sport from the drive modes selector on the steering wheel, which sharpens up the throttle response. You do get a bit of wheel spin if you accelerate with a bit of gusto out of a junction, but generally the Megane has good traction and is a confidence-inspiring car that’s easy to drive smoothly whether you’re in town or on a nice country road. 

Brake regen’ is controlled via some annoyingly tiny paddles on the steering wheel, but it offers four levels of regen’, ranging from completely off to a one-pedal drive mode. It’s not grabby at all, and we like having control of the brake regen’ via paddles as it makes it easy to jump through the settings. 

Drive and Handling

The Megane has a really nice balance of decent comfort and tidy handling. It turns into corners with real vigour, has loads of grip and feels pretty sporty on a good, winding road – the only electric family car we’d say handles as well as this is the Cupra Born. Ride comfort on the big, 20-inch alloy wheels of techno and Iconic trims is a touch lumpy and wooden around town, but it’s not so intrusive as to be a deal-breaker – and ride comfort is decent at higher speeds. Overall, the way the Megane drives is definitely one of the reasons you might go for this over any of the alternatives.