Introduction
2024 marks the Renault Megane’s 29th year on this planet which means it’s creeping gently up on its 30th birthday. A terrifying time for many people, it has reached a crossroads in its life and has decided to make a change.
Well, Renault has, because rather than leaving its 20s in a blaze of hot hatch, fire-breathing FWD extravagance, it is leaving it refined, modified and electrified.
This Megane is powered not by a petrol or diesel unit, but by a 60kwh battery pack and an electric motor pumping out around 214bhp and with a WLTP range of 280 miles.
With this change in powerplant, has come a change in personality. With this in mind, the Daily Express wanted to find out whether the change of heart had revolutionised or ruined Renault’s definitive French hatchback.
Performance & Handling
On paper, the Megane E-Tech is brisk. 214bhp, 300Nm of torque, and a 0-62 of 7.5 seconds is swift by any means.
The electric motors with their instant response whisk you away from zero with enough pull to get you to 20 or 30mph, but not so much as to snap your neck uncomfortably.
Once you’re on the move the car is compliant and comfortable over London’s bumps and cavernous potholes while the adaptive regenerative braking means you can one-foot motor if you wish with your foot covering the brake.
It’s a perfect city friend and very easy to fall in love with.
What’s more, as it’s not as big in person as it looks in photographs, it can fit through some surprisingly small gaps and parallel parking is a doddle with an array of sensors and cameras making sure the kerbs are seen but never touched.
Sadly, during our time with the Megane, we didn’t have an opportunity to take on twistier roads outside the M25, but given the car’s comfort with the urban environment, this felt less like a missed opportunity and more like a note for next time.
Interior and practicality
The interior cabin is one of the most immediately obvious high points of the Megane. Diving in a few minutes after it had been dropped off I was astonished at how easy it was to get used to.
Unlike other cars released in the past 12 months, there isn’t a touch screen bias. There is a touch screen, yes, but there is also a tasty array of buttons, switches, and dials that mean the screen is an aid rather than a default setting.
What’s more, there are plenty of cubby holes for storage and an adjustable cup holder that can fit both a tripod for filming and a takeaway coffee.
Below the screen there’s a wireless charging pad with a gripped surface to stop your phone from sliding and the car also comes with Apple Carplay which didn’t take a master’s degree in computing to set up.
While the positioning of some of the controls did feel a little cluttered to start with, a few short journeys brought on a little muscle memory.
Behind the driver is where things fall down a little. There’s space for two adults, but the seating position didn’t feel like it would be very comfortable on long journeys for someone over the height of 5ft 10in. For small children, the back seats would be fine, but adults may want to bagsy the front if there’s a long trip ahead.
The boot is decent too. With the seats up there’s 440 litres of space and once they’re folded there’s 1,332 litres.
There’s also storage underneath the boot flaw for charging cables. What this means is that when it comes to storing things in the Megane there are plenty of options, the one problem that arises is when you try and stow the key.
What I mean by this is there is no hole in the key or case for the key that allows you to attach it to your keyset. I nearly lost it several times in a coat pocket and set off the alarm when I sat on it by accident in a car park.
While this can be seen as a simple case of one bloke forgetting where he put his keys (who doesn’t occasionally?) it was a little irritating. In 2024 hindsight, storing it in a wallet would have made for a less anxious experience.
Conclusion
The Renault Megane E-TECH is the car’s entrance into the electric marketplace and apart from a few small irritations – the back seats and key – it deserves to stand proud alongside its competitors. For all that it may have lost in flexibility – see our review above – it has gained in speciality.
The car has not been revolutionised or ruined by going electric, but rather it has been repurposed. It may not be the vehicle for every occasion, but it is very definitely the car for every urban excursion.
