Renault Scenic E-Tech Review (2024-present)

What is the Renault Scenic E-Tech?

The Renault Scenic name will be familiar to many from the hugely popular (if rather dowdy) French MPV that Renault produced from the late 1990s through to 2019, when the family crossover and SUV market finally killed off the Scenic in the UK.

Now, the Scenic name is back in an all-new car, and a very modern take on the family car at that. Predictably, it’s now an SUV-crossover, although Renault would insist that it’s not an SUV but a ‘family solutions’ vehicle. For those of us not in a Renault marketing meeting, it’s a five-door crossover that’s actually a touch shorter than those rivals we’ve mentioned. For some context, at 4.47m long and 1.57m high, it’s very close in size to a Nissan Qashqai and Renault Austral, while a Skoda Enyaq iV is closer to 4.7m long.

The Renault Scenic E-Tech only gets one battery and powertrain option – a 91kWh lithium-ion pack with a usable capacity of 87kWh, which drives a single 215bhp electric motor on the front wheels. That’s good for an official WLTP driving range of up to 379 miles, which makes the Renault one of the longest range cars in this busy class. In fact, the price, equipment and range of the Renault Scenic E-Tech electric might even make you think twice about the Tesla Model Y.

Charging speeds peak at 150kW, which is on a par or better than most all-electric rivals other than the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Tesla Model Y, both of which can charge at over 200kW. Even so, the Renault will manage a 10-80% charge in some 30 minutes when plugged into a powerful enough charger. A 7kW home wallbox will deliver a full charge from nearly empty in 13 hours.

How practical is it?

This big Renault is arguably not practical enough for a car wearing the hallowed Scenic badge; a name that became synonymous with automotive utilitarian greatness. Passenger space is great, and we’ll come onto that in a moment, but the problem with the Scenic is the boot.

The official boot capacity is very good, and at 545 litres, which puts the Scenic almost up there with the Skoda Enyaq iV. However, much of that volume is in the depth of the luggage area, which has a fairly high lip and then falls away into a deep, well of space. Renault assures us that they will introduce a false floor as a dealer-fit accessory to make this a bit friendlier for those lugging big buggies into the boot, or who have dogs that won’t want to leap over the cliff edge of the Scenic’s load lip. But even with this fitted (we haven’t seen the Scenic with this option fitted, yet) the boot floor is still a lot shorter than you get in the Skoda Enyaq iV, Tesla Model Y or Peugeot E-3008, so if you’re after lots of usable floor space in the boot of your car then the Renault will probably disappoint. There’s no ‘frunk’ storage space in the nose of the car, either.

Other than that, practicality is good. The rear seats fold in a 40/20/40 split, and while it’s a shame that they don’t slide or offer any versatility other than that, there’s no doubting that they offer masses of leg- and headroom. There’s also a clever centre rear armrest that doubles up as a stand for up to two phones, complete with twin charging ports, to keep the kids entertained back there.

It's very comfortable up front, too. You get electric lumbar-adjustment and heated seats on every Scenic, so it’s not such a problem that you have to go for top-spec Iconic trim to get full electric adjustment as even the entry-level Techno model has plenty of adjustment and will suit most drivers even on long journeys.

There are a lot of buttons on the steering wheel, as well as a lot of protruding stalks on the right hand side of the wheel including the gear selectror to put the car in drive or reverse, the indicator stalk, and another lower down stalk for media volume and source. It’s all rather a lot of controls to get used to. Another gripe with the Renault’s driving position is that visibility isn’t great, as the rear windscreen is quite narrow and rear three-quarter pillars quite chunky. At least you get blind spot warning and a full suite of parking aids on every model.

The doorbins and various cubbies, including one with wireless charging for you phone, also makes it easy to stop all your gubbins from rattling around.

One incentive to go for the top-spec Iconic is Renault’s clever ‘Solarbay’ panoramic sunroof, which turns opaque in sections. You can have it shaded in the back and clear up front, for instance. It works well and is a very cool feature.

Even so, while the tactile materials and neat touches like the rear armrest and sunroof are great party tricks, overall the Scenic is no more versatile than most of its rivals and that boot may make this a less practical option for some.

What’s it like to drive?

To drive, the Scenic is comfortable and smooth, which is ideal for a family car. With a 0-62mph time of 8.4sec, it’s not fast but it’s more than gutsy enough to feel confident in fast motorway merges or punchy junction getaways.

There are a variety of drive modes to choose from, which you toggle through using a button on the steering wheel. Eco really neuters the accelerator pedal response and can feel a bit sluggish, while Sport makes it feel a touch sharp, so we prefer the happy-medium ‘Perso’ mode. Even in that mode, the steering can feel a touch quick off the dead-ahead, but with a little familiarity the Scenic is a pleasant, almost serene car to drive.

As with all modern cars, the Scenic sounds an alert when you go over the speed limit, and the soft, dual-tone bonging sounds amusingly like the noise a submarine makes in the movies when it’s diving. Thankfully, the Renault allows you to save all the safety assist systems to your own personalised profile – for instance, you may want the speed limit warning off but lane-keep assist turned on. Then, when you start the car it’s a quick prod on the screen to activate and confirm your profile so that the systems are how you want them to be. A neat touch that, in a world of new cars that can seem very paranoid when it comes to warning beeps and bongs, is very welcome.

Technology, equipment & infotainment

Equipment in the Scenic is usefully better than you’ll get in most rivals. Even the entry-level Renault Scenic E-Tech techno gets a heat pump (for better driving range in cold weather running), heated seats, keyless entry, automatic LED headlights, metallic paint, adaptive cruise control, blind spot warning, reversing camera with parking sensors front- and back and 19-inch alloy wheels.

The esprit Alpine model adds some cool style tweaks and natty interior upgrades including carpets in the trademark Alpine (which is a sports car brand in the Renault portfolio) blue. There are no changes to the suspension or mechanicals for the esprit Alpine, so don’t expect it to be any sportier than the other Scenic models. Top-spec Iconic adds the Solarbay panoramic roof, electric seat adjustment, Harman Kardon sound system and 20-inch alloy wheels.

Every Scenic gets a 12-inch portrait touchscreen infotainment system complete with in-built Google software with Google maps. You also get wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and over-the-air software updates.

Renault Scenic E-Tech running costs

The Renault Scenic E-Tech is well priced next to just about all of those rivals we’ve mentioned, especially given the equipment. Only the MG ZS EV (which has a much shorter driving range) makes it look pricey.

Monthly finance is reasonable if not brilliant, with prices from around £450–£500 per month provided you’ve got a healthy deposit or trade-in vehicle. There are no low interest or zero deposit offers yet, but the PCP monthly finance deals are likely to get much more appealing after the Scenic’s initial launch.

We haven’t spent enough time in the Scenic to make an accurate guess of how efficient it may be in the real world – its sister car, the Renault Megane E-Tech – that uses the same platform, hasn’t proved hugely efficient in everyday use. However, the Scenic uses a different battery and gets a heat pump as standard (the Megane E-Tech didn’t, initially). So we’d estimate the real-world range to be around 270-350 miles depending on the conditions.

Charging at home is much cheaper than public charging, and can get electricity costs down to as little as 3p per mile if you routinely use cheap, off-peak tariffs to charge overnight. If you do a bit of public charging, or charge at a higher standard rate at home, costs will be closer to 10p per mile – still cheaper than fuelling a petrol or diesel car provided you don’t rapid charge all the time. A full charge at home, on the current standard electricity tariff of 29p per kWh, would come in at just over £25.

Servicing is required every two years or 18,000 miles, and you can opt for fixed price servicing, at under £400 for three years. The car will also bring up a message to tell you if it needs servicing before this schedule.

Renault Scenic E-Tech reliability

Renault managed a rather middling 23rd out of 32 brands surveyed in the 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey. The long-lived Renault Zoe was similarly underwhelming for reliability when ranked against other electric cars in the same survey, placing 14th out of 20 electric vehicles included, although the faults were typically minor and fixed quickly.

It's also worth pointing out that the Scenic is on an entirely different platform, with new battery tech so, in truth, reliability is something of an unknown at this point. Renault offers a three year, 100,000 mile warranty on its electric cars, while the battery is covered for eight years and 100,000 miles. That’s a shorter vehicle warranty than you get in the Kia Niro EV, MG ZS EV and Hyundai Kona Electric, but the Renault does have a higher mileage limit than many rivals including the Nissan Ariya and Volkswagen ID.4.