Renault Megane E-Tech long-term review main image

Renault Scenic E-Tech long-term review

August 13, 2025 Matt Allan

Another month with our long-term Renault Scenic sees us put its long-range credentials to the test with an adventure to rural Wales

Month 2 – Taking the Scenic route

After a few weeks spent pootling about locally and doing the dreaded Edinburgh Airport run (I swear I should have my own parking space by now), I finally got the chance to test the Renault Scenic’s long-range abilities recently.

After all, this is a car that claims class-leading range of 379 miles from its 87kWh battery (369 with my car’s 20-inch wheels), so an 11-hour, 605-mile round trip to deepest Wales should be no sweat.

Based on the trip computer’s predicted real-world range of 348 miles I could have made it to my destination near Aberystwyth with electricity to spare. However, plugging my route into the onboard Google Maps, the car disagreed and warned I’d get there (or wouldn’t) with -2% battery.

All the charging info you need baked into native Google Maps

What’s clever about the Google-based system is that as well as taking into account the different roads and speeds along the route and their impact on your efficiency, it also lets you choose your desired state of charge on arrival, and tells you where to stop and how long to charge to attain that. It will also activate battery pre-conditioning, should the car need it.

It also does it with all the live traffic and accurate directions any Google Maps user will be familiar with. It’s a brilliantly integrated and intuitive system that puts other baked-in setups in the shade and is one of the Scenic’s stand-out features.

Using all that cleverness, I calculated three stops in total to get me to Wales and back, the longest of which was still less than half an hour. The Scenic’s 150kW maximum charging rate is a little behind top-spec Fords and Skodas which offer 185kW, but still quick enough to mean charging stops aren’t an inconvenience. By the time I’d had a pee, bought a cuppa and checked my emails, it was ready to go again. All-in I saw energy consumption of 3.5m/kWh, not too bad considering about three-quarters of my trip was on the M6.

Long distances have proved no problem for our long-term Scenic (Image: Malcolm Griffiths)

The long drive proved the Scenic’s big-range credentials but also focused my attention on the very low seating position and short (for me) seat squabs that meant a lack of leg support. It’s not uncomfortable but long-legged drivers will notice it. The drive also let me test the massage function that’s exclusive to this top-spec Iconic trim. That proved disappointingly weedy – think small cat rather than muscular Swede. Still, my crumbling back was pain-free after two long days at the wheel, so Renault’s got the basics right.

Off the motorway, the Scenic’s performance confirmed my initial suspicions. The famous sinuous roads of Wales revealed a car set up for comfortable cruising rather than B-road blasts. Words like secure, stable and predictable spring to mind rather than pace-quickening or lively.

That’s exactly what I want from a family car, though. The steering is light enough for urban manoeuvres but not so light that it feels vague at high speeds and body control is composed but not too rigid. The ride isn’t quite a match for the best in class but it still coped well enough with broken chunks of Welsh B roads, and on the motorway there’s a pleasing lack of wind or tyre noise.

All-in-all, it’s not a car that cries out to be driven but it’s one that I’m more than happy to find myself at the wheel of. Which is just as well because I’ve got plenty more motoring to do in it before it heads back.

Long-term log

Arrived: June 2025
Price as tested: £46,745
Mileage since arrival: 1200.5
Average consumption: 3.4m/kWh
Monthly charging costs: £68.54
Costs: None
Faults: None

Month 1

It’s fair to say I’ve become a bit of a Renault fanboy over the last couple of years.

For much of the last decade, the French brand churned out uninspiring SUV after uninspiring SUV (I’m looking at you, Koleos and Kadjar) then as it fully embraced electrification it seemed, suddenly, to find its mojo again. Sharp design, clever packaging and technological innovation all reappeared and made Renault a brand worth paying attention to.

There’s lots of examples – in the shape of the Renault 4 and Renault 5, plus the Alpine A290 and next year’s Twingo. But before them came the Megane and the Scenic.

I was among the judges who voted the Scenic E-Tech Scottish Car of the Year in 2024, so it seemed fitting to spend more time with the car to see if it still lived up to our acclaim after a few months.

First, the basics. The Renault Scenic is a 4.47m long, 1.86m wide family SUV. It’s in a crowded market, competing with the likes of the Ford Explorer, Skoda Enyaq, Hyundai Ioniq 5, and Peugeot E-3008. Starting at around £37,000, entry-level cars undercut rivals by a couple of thousand pounds and even at the top end, my Iconic Long Range-spec car maintains a similar gap to its Ford, Skoda or Hyundai equivalents.

What’s impressive is that after a recent line-up restructure, the small battery option has been dropped and even the basic cars get the bigger 87kWh battery which, in “my” fully loaded car offers an official range of 369 miles.

How close we get to that remains to be seen over the next few months but early indications are good. After a few weeks of familiarisation, the Scenic’s trip computer reckons a full charge will return more than 340 miles based on my driving history.

More than 340 miles on a charge is plenty

That’s helped by performance that’s decent rather than dazzling. With 215bhp, the Scenic is a little down on power compared with the mid-level Explorer or higher-spec Enyaq. It’s still perfectly sufficient for day-to-day driving – 0-62mph in less than 8 seconds is quick enough – but it doesn’t encourage the kind of driving that chews through energy too quickly.

Visually, the Scenic has a more angular aesthetic than the related Megane hatchback. The textured hexagonal grille that fades into the bodywork as it radiates from the new-look Renault badge is bold and different but not too aggressive. The same is true of the pointed bumper and arrow-shaped multi-LED running lights that give a distinctive character to the car. Although it is an SUV, the Scenic seems to sit lower than some rivals and even with chrome roof rails and 20-inch alloys, it appears remarkably compact.

What’s clever is that it doesn’t feel small inside. I’ve yet to try and fit my entire brood of five in at once, but from a driver’s perspective there’s plenty of space and adjustment. That impression is helped by the pale fabric upholstery, made from recycled materials, and the huge panoramic sunroof with its clever liquid crystal tech that goes from clear to opaque and back at the touch of a button.

Pale upholstery looks good and helps with the feeling of space in the Scenic (Image: Malcolm Griffiths)

As with any modern car, especially range-topping models, the Scenic is packed with technology like that. It’ll take me more time to get to grips with all of it but two elements I’m already loving are the easy-to-use Google Automotive-powered infotainment system and the ADAS controls. More precisely, the lone button just to the right of the steering wheel which with two deft taps deactivates all the unnecessary binging and bonging and interventions you didn’t ask for or need. Chapeau to Renault, as I believe the youth say.

Also fitted to my top-spec car are elements such as heated massage seats and steering wheel (which hopefully I won’t need); a hybrid rear-view mirror with camera; 12-speaker Harman Kadron stereo, powered tailgate and hands-free parking.

Some proper family outings and long work-related trips are in the diary, which should give me time to put all that tech to the test as well as assess how well the Scenic stacks up as both a family car and long-range workhorse.