Renault Mégane e-Tech
The last few reviews have been very EV based, so why break the streak? I personally like EVs. There. I said it. I don’t care if die-hard petrolheads start chasing me down the road wielding pitchforks and torches, angrily yelling “blasphemy!”. Embracing change never is a bad thing and experiencing what EVs are capable of, makes me appreciate them more and more. This time, I wanted to try something that is not based on the Volkswagen MEB platform. So I nicely asked Renault if I could have a go in their new Mégane e-Tech. A car I actually didn’t know much about, except that it looks rather brilliant and might be a great EV to consider.
When reviewing cars, I love to get into it with as little information as possible. This makes exploring the car and its features more fun and I won’t be disappointed if the car I’m looking forward to ends up being rubbish.
As soon as I got to pick up the car, the first impression already was incredibly good. The size, design and especially the spec on this one were beautiful. Dark blue paint, a black glossy roof and stunning wheels won’t necessarily make it stand out, but those who catch its beauty will be utterly pleased by it. The car is quite compact and the low roof and narrow windows give it a dynamic appearance.
Once I was done admiring the outside, I got inside via the automatically revealing door handles. Something you can find on some modern cars, but certainly not something I was expecting from a Mégane. Another thing I definitely wasn’t expecting was the interior. I sat there in awe, admiring the amazing design and premium feel of the inside. There’s lots of leather, amazing screens and great-looking and comfortable seats. Basically, everything you touch feels well-made. The two big screens also look incredibly crisp. The infotainment system and its software are responsive and beautifully designed which in my experience isn’t often the case on “cheaper” cars today. It feels intuitive and thought through. Like someone actually put in real effort. Something I didn’t experience with its German competitors. Another thing I loved was that even though the car had touch controls on the screen, most functions could be selected with actual buttons. Halleluja! No silly touch buttons that need a secret swiping combination only its engineers know. No. Actual buttons with lovely tactility. Merci beaucoup Pierre. Or whatever name for the guy responsible for it is.
Once I got familiar with my surroundings, I got a move on and tried to get a first feel for the car. As with all EVs, power delivery is fast and smooth and handling is great. The ride however is a bit bumpy. Not that it’s bad, but I certainly didn’t expect it to be this hard. I like it though.
The Mégane comes with various driving, modes that actually feel significantly different from one another. On most other cars all those modes feel roughly the same, so it doesn’t really matter which one you’re in. On the Mégane there were the classic three. Eco, Comfort and Sport (Individual was there too, but I never use that one in any car). Eco really is eco and doesn’t let you accelerate fast. It actually doesn’t accelerate at all. No matter how hard you put your foot down. It always feels like it’s got 12 HP. And I don’t think it wants to go faster than 100km/h. If you plan on driving like a normal human being, Comfort is the do-it-all mode. You get reasonable power, good acceleration and the best overall feeling. In Sport mode, you feel the throttle becoming sharper and significantly less throttle is needed to get it up to speeds. The mode is fun to use, as you can exploit small gaps perfectly with it, as it’s more responsive than Comfort. What I noticed though is that the car isn’t really mind-bogglingly fast in either mode. A launch at a red light doesn’t happen as vigorously as other EVs. I assume that FWD, winter tires and -3 degrees Celsius meant a lot of work for the traction control, so it was quite hard to put the full power down. Or Renault doesn’t really let you as it will decrease the bit of range it has. But more on that in a second.
Overall it’s a smooth drive no matter what mode you prefer. You are able to change the level of energy recuperation via the paddles on the steering wheel, which makes the car greatly customisable for most driving situations. And trust me you’ll need every bit of recuperating energy as the range sadly was a bit of a bummer.
Renault claims 450km range. From experience I knew that getting that range is nearly impossible, so I expected to get at least 350km. Boi was I wrong. I barely got 250km out of a full charge. But you need to consider that it is indeed winter and temperatures are freezing, meaning that the battery isn’t able to use its full capacity. Plus keeping me warm and cosy on the inside means using a lot of power for heating. It also didn’t really help that I had to do quite a few longer motorway journeys. So overall, not a real surprise that the car’s range was a bit low. I still managed easily as there are loads of charging points and getting it up to 80% doesn’t really take that long when plugged into the right charger. I would expect to get around 350km under the right conditions, which is plenty for most cases.
Now to the bad things apart from the range. I will always find something to nag about. On the Mégane, though there wasn’t really anything major I didn’t like. The only 2-3 minor things I didn’t like were the placement of the gear selector stalk behind the wheel, as I often used my wipers instead of reversing. The rear seats aren’t that spacious for tall people and the design sort of loses a little bit of its appeal with time. I also would have loved to see a panoramic roof as it would light up the interior a bit more. But that’s criticism at a very high level.
Overall I really really enjoyed my time with the car. It’s one of those cars I looked forward to getting into every time I had to go somewhere. I knew that I could just get inside, my phone would connect automatically, launch Apple Car Play and I could blast my music through the Harman & Kardon speakers, which by the way are incredible and probably my highlight of the car! Crisp clean sound with proper bass and clarity. But what blew me away the most was the value for money this car provides. At roughly 50’000 CHF you get an incredibly good-looking car that is well made, and comes with lots of great gimmicks and features like cruise control, lane assist that doesn’t crash into a wall, 360 view so you won’t drive it into a wall, and lots of other helpers preventing wall related accidents. You can feel that it’s an important car for Renault as the effort they have put in can be felt in every little detail. Something the German rivals lack. So if you’re looking for a great daily with incredible value for money, look no further. The Mégane e-Tech might be the right car for you.
Learn more about the Renault Mégane e-Tech.
