Renault Megane E-Tech Review (2022-present)

What is the Renault Megane E-Tech?

Not the Renault Megane that most traditionalists will be used to, that’s for sure. Where the Megane name was once worn by the French firm’s humble and rather humdrum family hatchback, the latest incarnation has morphed into an SUV-style crossover that is powered purely by electricity, rather than the petrol and diesel of yesteryear.

Let’s be honest, that’s the most sensible use of the name by Renault: after all, electric SUVs are all the rage at the moment, so if you’re going to revive the Megane name, it makes a lot of commercial sense to use it on a car like this instead of the sort of car the Megane started life as, the popularity of which is very much on the wane in the UK’s current car market. There’s a reason that this car isn’t the Mk2 Renault Zoe.

And even among a vast sea of stylish rivals, the new Renault Megane E-Tech electric cuts a serious dash, with flamboyant lines and intricate details. The interior communicates a similar air of chic and sophistication thanks to its mixture of cool design and strong quality. Practicality is also decent, while with punchy performance and a fun-yet-comfortable front-wheel-drive driving experience, the Megane is enjoyable on the road as well.

As we’ve mentioned, the Megane has no shortage of zero-emissions rivals for the new car to compete with, including the Kia Niro EV, Volkswagen ID.4, Ford Capri, Tesla Model Y, and Volvo EX40. You’ll likely also consider slightly bigger EV SUVs such as the Nissan Ariya and the Renault Scenic E-Tech from the very same stable. And don’t count out more hatchback-like electric vehicle offerings such as the Cupra Born, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6 and VW ID.3, either.

How practical is it?

It’s a bit of a mixed bag for the Megane on this score: in most respects, the space itself is pretty good, but it’s let down a bit by the way in which that space is packaged. For instance, there’s a surprisingly generous amount of legroom in the back for a car of very compact proportions: leggy rear-seat passengers won’t have their knees pressing into the front seats, even if they’re seated behind a tall driver.

However, rear headroom is rather more limited - those much over six feet tall will feel pretty hemmed in - and because the roof curves down a lot at the sides of the car, it’s easy to clonk your head as you get in and out, and you might also get a bash on the bonce if the driver takes a corner a bit too quickly.

There’s barely any foot space under the rear seats, either, making the footwell feel rather tight, even though there’s a completely flat floor. That does make life a bit more comfortable for the person sitting in the middle-rear seat, because they don't have to straddle a bulky transmission tunnel like they will in many other cars, but their comfort is still limited by the narrow seat with hard cushioning. Shoulder space is also a bit too tight to comfortably fit three in the back.

It’s a similar story in the boot. The 440-litre boot space looks good on paper, and the space does indeed look very generous in reality, but because the space is oddly packaged, most of that space comes from the massive depth of the boot, rather than its length or width. Open up the tailgate, and you won’t know whether to start loading your bags, or toss in a coin and make a wish. This depth also leaves you with a massive loading lip - we’re talking about a foot or so - that you have to muscle heavy items over and drop in the other side. At least there’s a small cubby under the floor for your charging cables so that they’re not rattling around in the boot’s main compartment.

You can drop the 60/40 split-folding rear seats to free up 1332 litres of cargo space, but when you do, the massive load lip is joined by a massive step up to the folded rear seatback. These don’t lie flat, either, so as well as being heavily steeped, your extended load area is also slightly sloped.

Space up front is fine, and there are all sorts of little nooks and crannies in which you can squirrel away odds and ends. There’s plenty of adjustment in the driving position, too, helping you to get comfy at the wheel, but you might just laugh out loud about how poor your rear visibility is. The rear window is tiny - both narrow and shallow - so you can’t see much at the best of times, but the heads of rear-seat passengers will block your view even further when you have friends on board. What’s more, the tiny rear window has a predictably tiny rear wiper, which only clears about a third of the glass when it rains.

The interior of the Megane looks pretty stylish, though with its big screen and attractive materials, while all versions get an attractive fabric covering on the dashboard. And despite those screens, Renault has still provided physical controls for the ventilation system, for which the French firm should be applauded. Having said that, all the practicality limitations we’ve already identified mean that the Megan isn’t the best family car in its class.

What’s it like to drive?

Let’s get the numbers out of the way pretty sharpish, so we can get on with talking about how the car actually feels. The front-axle-mounted electric motor produces 218bhp and a generous 300Nm of torque, and it’s fed by a 60kWh (usable capacity) lithium-ion battery pack. The official 0-62mph time stands at 7.4 seconds, and the top speed at 99mph.

Gentle pressure on the accelerator pedal results in a correspondingly moderate unfurling of pace, so the pedal is easy to modulate, but flooring it makes the car capable of a very strong turn of pace, and it feels faster when pulling away than that official figure suggests. You’ll actually find it pretty easy to spin up the front wheels when the road surface is a bit greasy.

The one-the-move acceleration isn’t quite so muscular, but the car never feels underpowered or out of its depth. And of course, the motor is extremely quiet, so your acceleration is accompanied by very little noise, and while wind-and road noise can be heard on the motorway, they never get to problematic levels.

What might surprise you given the Megane’s top-heavy SUV styling is how agile and eager to change direction it is. It’s light by electric car standards (1,636kg, of which 394kg is the battery), which helps, and corners are dispatched with strong grip and impressively tight body control. Yes, this body control has been achieved by a rather stiffly sprung suspension, so the ride has a slightly firm edge, but the damping is good enough to take the sting out of most bumps and ruts, and things never get uncomfortable.

The one curiosity about the Megane’s dynamic makeup is the steering. It’s very quick at just 2.3 turns lock-to-lock, but you don’t get much in the way of feel. However, that’s not as much of an issue as the weighting. It’s always rather light, but the precise weight is also a little inconsistent, and this detracts from its accuracy: you often find yourself making small adjustments mid-corner. It doesn’t stop the car being fun to drive, but ironing out this issue would make the car feel more fluid still.

The other thing to mention is the car’s regenerative braking system: on higher-spec Techno and Iconic models, you can dial the level of regen’ up and down in four stages using the paddles behind the steering wheel. These range from very light, where you can pretty much coast for long distances when off the throttle pedal, to very heavy, where the strength of the intervention makes it almost a one-pedal driving experience (it isn’t quite, because the car won’t come to a complete stop without use of the regular friction brakes). The broad range of modes gives you lots of choice over how you want your driving experience to be, and it’s all easy to get used to, even if you’re not experienced at driving an electric car.

Technology, equipment and infotainment

When the Megane E-Tech was first launched, the trim levels available were called Equilibre, Techno and Launch Edition. These names were later swapped for Evolution, Techno and Iconic, but apart from a couple of small alterations, the specifications remained largely the same.

Buy yourself an Equilibre, and you’ll get air-conditioning, cruise control, heated front seats, a heated synthetic leather steering wheel, ambient lighting, four powered windows, 18-inch alloy wheels, LED headlight, automatically tilting door mirrors, a handsfree key card, rear parking sensors, and a rear-view camera,

When the Evolution took over, it added adaptive cruise control, dual-zone climate control, automatic lights and wipers, which previously only entered the fray at Techno level.

Techno cars come with front-, side-, and rear parking sensors, regen’ paddles, part-faux-leather upholstery, 20-inch wheels, privacy glass, and adaptive LED headlights with automatic high beam and dynamic turn signal.

Fork out for the range-topping Launch Edition/Iconic trims, and you’ll get 360-degree cameras, a hands-free parking function, and an upgraded Harman Kardon premium audio system. You also get a smart rear view mirror: this can display a feed from a rear-facing camera of the view behind you, which is handy if the back of the car is loaded up to the roof with cargo, or the view from your teeny rear window is obscured by the heads of your rear-seat passengers.

Your infotainment also varies according to which trim grade you choose. Entry-level Equilibre/Evolution cars come with a 12.3-inch digital driver display behind the steering wheel, along with a 9.0-inch Open R central touchscreen supporting navigation, DAB radio, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto. Your sound system has four speakers, and you get four USB-C ports (two front, two rear) for charging devices.

The Techno trim, meanwhile, adds two extra speakers and replaces the central screen with a 12.0-inch infotainment screen that comes complete with Google Automotive Services. This has navigation powered by Google Maps and Google Assistant voice control, and gives you the ability to download certain apps directly onto the system via the Google Play store. You also get wireless phone charging thrown in as well.

For such a complex system that operates such a wide variety of functionality, it’s actually pretty easy to navigate. It’s not perfect - some of the menus are rather long and convoluted - but most of the time, you can find your way around the system with reasonable ease. Screen sensitivity is good, too, although some of the screen transitions and animations could be a little faster and slicker.

The Iconic/Launch Edition gets the same system, only enhanced further by an upgraded Harman Kardon premium audio system.

Renault Megane E-Tech running costs

According to official WLTP figures, the Megane E-Tech’s 60kWh battery (that’s usable capacity, by the way) is good for a range of about 280 miles. As always, don’t bank on getting this laboratory-gleaned figure out in the real world: 240 miles would be an achievement even in optimum conditions, while motorway stints will see your achievable average plummet, as will cold temperatures.

To help with the latter, early Megane E-Techs in high trim levels were fitted with a standard heat pump, which gives more efficient cabin heating in cold temperatures to maximise the range. From mid 2024, the heat pump was made standard across the range.

Most EV drivers charge at home from a 7.4 kW wallbox charger. On one of these, Renault says that a 15%-80% charge (all the charging figures the company quotes are for this level of charge) will take around six hours. This charge will take more like 20 hours on a three-pin domestic socket, and the cable for doing this isn’t supplied as standard, so you need to pay extra for one. Either way, a full battery charge at home will cost you around £17 if your domestic electricity is charged at the national average rate. Get yourself on a tariff where you can charge overnight on discounted power, though, and you’ll easily chop that figure in half.

The Megane E-Tech supports AC charging of up to 22kW, so a public charger of that type will deliver that same 15%-80% top-up in under 2 hours. The car supports DC rapid charging of up to 130kW, delivering that benchmark charge level in around half an hour. In either case, though, these public chargers will be way more expensive than charging at hope: you can easily pay three times the price for power that comes from the most rapid chargers.

Renault Megane E-Tech reliability

The latest What Car? Reliability Survey paints a fairly rosy picture here. Renault placed ninth out of 31 car makers in the manufacturer standings of the study, which is a very credible performance. However, the research found that the firm’s performance was a game of two halves: some models performed brilliantly, while some performed terribly, and there was very little in between. So which side of the coin does the Megan E-Tech fall on?

Happily, the positive side. The car placed equal-third in the Electric Car category, which assessed 18 models. That should give you plenty of confidence in the Megane’s mechanical dependability.

Bought brand new, the Megane E-Tech comes with a three-year warranty that has no mileage cap for the first two years, but a cap of 100,000 miles for the third year. Buy a used one, however, and you might get lucky: early cars were sold with a five-year warranty (again, with no mileage cap for the first two years, and then capped at 100,000 miles from years three to five), which Renault must honour. The battery comes with eight-year, 100,000-mile cover.