SPECIFICATION
Electric motor, 60kWh battery, FWD, 217bhp
3.9 miles per kWh, 280 miles
0–62mph in 7.4secs, 100mph
1,708kg
MILEAGE: 2,596 OUR MPKWH: 3.0
GOOD STUFF
Lovely interior, sharp to drive, quiet. So far, so good…
BAD STUFF
Long motorway trips will very much depend on charger availability.
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Renault Megane E-Tech
HELLO
£39,495 OTR/£40,445 as tested/£715pcm
WHY IT’S HERE
To prove our love of hatches in the face of a crossover-mad world
DRIVER
Paul Horrell
A YEAR IS A LONG TIME IN ELECTRIC CARS. RENAULT HAS TAKEN ITS time in moving the steering wheel and pedals over to our side of the dash, so although I loved the electric Megane when I drove it a year ago, will I love it now? Only time will tell…
The car sitting in my street is a Megane E-Tech EV60 Optimum Charge Techno. E-Tech is simply Renault’s way of saying it’s electric, to distinguish from the old petrol Megane. (Oh, hang on, E-Tech is also Renault’s word for hybrid, and there was a hybrid old Megane by the same name… hmm.) EV60 means it has the 60kWh battery and 217bhp motor. Optimum Charge means it can ingest AC up to 22kW three-phase. Techno is the middle spec and I can report that it’s well stuffed with gear. The car I’m in has one £950 extra – its paint. But apart from that there are no options fitted and none are available.
I had quite a bit of trouble connecting the Renault remote-charging app on my phone to the car. That always happens. Why do manufacturers all pretend they can do reliable car connectivity when they can’t? The difference here is Renault’s call centre was fantastically helpful.
No long trips so far, so I can’t say anything about efficiency. Early non-definitive indications are that range won’t be far above 210 miles in winter. My friend Tom Ford has come into a Cupra Born (see opposite) with a bigger, 77kWh battery. Last year I drove that very spec of Born side by side with this very spec of Megane, and greatly preferred the Megane’s control interface and rather preferred the drive too. For those things I’m happy to enjoy being in the Renault and very occasionally break a journey for 15 minutes to add the 17kWh by which my battery is undersized versus his.
Besides, a smaller battery means a lighter car. I’ve come out of a Volkswagen ID.4 with the 77kWh battery and the Renault establishes a more enjoyably vivid connection between driver and road.
SPECIFICATION
Electric motor, 82kWh battery, RWD, 228bhp
3.9 miles per kWh, 341 miles
0–62mph in 7.0secs, 99mph
