The closest thing to an RS feeling EV is Renault’s ‘doesn’t roll off the tongue’ Mégane E-Tech Electric. With many EV’s you’ll get in and the first thing you’ll notice is the extra weight from the batteries. Not so in this Mégane. It is easily the most fun I’ve had in an EV, based purely on how enjoyable they’ve made it to drive. The steering is accurate and precise and it sits so well on the road plus the car doesn’t feel overly heavy. So far manufacturers have been busying themselves with the practicalities of designing and building EV’s, now it seems they’ve had time to add more of the fun elements which can make a car so very enjoyable to drive.
Special mention : It’s an awful lot of fun to drive. The touchscreen is powered by Google OS and it works well. The rear end design is particularly well done.
Needs work : There’s three stalks on the side of the steering wheel, they’re closely placed together and will take a little bit of time to get used to which is where. That rear end design also leaves rear visibility reduced.
| HP 130 | Electric / Auto |
| 0-100 km/h 7.4 (40) or 10.0 (60) seconds | Road Tax €120 |
| Price: €37,495 for EV40 €41,995 for EV60 | Boot space 440 litres |
Entry-level Megane E-Tech Electrics will be offered with either a 40kWh battery for up to 300 kms of range,or the 60kWh model which should get around 470 kms of range. The Tech package comes with Googles infotainment system and level two autonomous tech which takes care of steering, acceleration and braking on the motorway and in stop/start traffic.
Driving modes come in the form of Eco, Comfort, Sport and Individual. You can adjust the level of brake regeneration via the paddles, and brake feel is decent. You don’t get full one-pedal driving, the driver needs to use the brake pedal to come to a complete stop.
The new Megane is light on its feet. Put your foot down and the increase in acceleration is immediately obvious. And after you have depleted your battery, topping up using a 130kW charger gives 10-80% battery top-up in around 30 minutes for the 60kWh Megane. A full charge from a 7kW home wallbox takes about nine hours (or seven hours for the smaller battery). That’s not as fast as the Tesla Model 3 can charge using the brilliant Tesla Supercharger network but not many have managed to catch up with the best part of Tesla, that charging infrastructure.
The Mégane E-Tech Electric was awarded five stars out of five for safety and every version gets plenty of safety tech including lane-keeping assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear automatic emergency braking and a system that warns you if you open the door into the path of a moving object (scooters, bikes or cars). Rear visibility isn’t great due to the large rear pillars and tiny rear windows so this will come in handy. Luckily, front and rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera are standard with Techno trim, while top-spec Launch Edition adds a 360-degree camera and automatic parking as standard.
It’s about the same size as the Volkswagen ID.3, Kia’s e-Niro, the Nissan Leaf and Tesla’s Model 3. The seats and steering wheel have a decent amount of adjustability as well as lumbar support which is included as standard on the higher trim versions. It’s very smartly finished on the inside and filled with lots of soft-touch materials, all of which are recycled. There are some hard plastics but they’re low down where the trim gets bashed about the most. The dashboard itself is relatively sparse, consisting of little more than two screens and some physical switches for the climate control. The screens are still finicky to use while on the move. They use Android’s Automotive OS and integrated Google services, including Google Maps and Google Assistant. All models of the Megane E-Tech Electric come with Bluetooth, and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring.
There’s a good view out the front but the shallow rear window means it’s restricted. There is however a rear-view mirror option to have another digital screen feed a wide angle view from a rear-mounted camera. The space between the seat base and the top of the door opening is reduced due to the battery placement in the floor as well, so when you’re getting into the back or loading a youngster into their child seat it makes things that little bit tighter. There is a flat floor however which makes things a bit more comfortable for rear seat passengers. In the boot there’s around 440 litres of space which is more than the ID.3, and it’s deep, although the deep floor creates a high sill.
While it may be built on the same platform as the Ariya, the Mégane E-Tech Electric is more fun to drive, even though it’s only front wheel drive. The 0-100 km/h of 7.5s feels quicker in Sport mode and does just fine in Comfort. It’s a confidence inspiring evolution for Renault and one that makes us very much excited to see what they’ve conjured up with the new Renault 5 Electric.