The Renault Scenic, which actually once founded the MPV category, would probably need no introduction at all. The Renault brand has produced it in many generations, but this time the French have made two huge changes – for the first time ever, the Scenic is being sold as an electric-only car, and instead of the original MPV, we have a sort of combination of SUV and hatchback. So let’s take a look at how the new Scenic, which is the European Car of the Year 2024, actually works…
The new Scenic, as far as bodywork is concerned, is something of a crossbreed. It’s not actually an SUV, a crossover, an MPV or even a purebred hatchback. It’s probably closest to a mid-size crossover with a hatchback design. At 4.5m long, it’s practically the same length as the previous combustion Scenic and a little smaller than the Grand Scenic.
Design-wise, Renault has departed quite a bit from the rounded look of the electric Megane, delivering noticeably sharper cut lines and shapes. Anyway, the French elegance certainly hasn’t disappeared and, accompanied by various “flicks” and extras, the car looks very good and, design-wise, I like it.
Very effective and interesting is the rather short front end, which is adorned with Matrix LED headlights and a sort of black honeycomb that gradually fades into the body color. For better aerodynamics, there is an electrically operated air curtain under the daytime running lights at the front.
At the rear, the new Scenic is also designed to reduce air resistance as much as possible. It has been given special “wings” along the sides to reduce air swirling behind the car. The 19-inch wheels that come as standard look beautiful, and even better are the ones an inch larger that our test piece wears.
Once inside the cabin, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the abundance of soft-touch plastics, and not just on the face of it, the great-looking cloth seats with ample seat cushion length. A 186cm tall passenger can sit comfortably in both rows of seats. There are plenty of handy on-board storage compartments with a total volume of up to 38.7 litres, making the Scenic E-Tech the best in its category. The interior will therefore make all practically minded people happy.
Just stepping inside tunes you up for the ideal travel experience. The dominant feature of the interior is, of course, the vertical central display, which brings together all the important functions. Nevertheless, the physical controls for the air conditioning and heating have also been included. The R-Link system is built on the Android platform, so all you have to do is log in with your Google account and it will sync maps, calendar and other used elements from this ecosystem.
All the mechanical controls have clearly defined operation and precise arrest, and even when you lean hard into the center console between the seats, or the massive dashboard panel and twin displays, they don’t make a single clack or squeak. We weren’t used to this in Renaults once upon a time, and so today, at a time when the interiors of four-times more expensive new premium marques creak like they’ve been on the worst roads after a decade of service, it’s a remarkable achievement.
The infotainment system is snappy, clear and the user experience is really polished. Speaking of those technologies, let me also mention the panoramic roof. It’s called Solarbay and it does magic with transparency. At the touch of a button, you can darken or make the sunroof transparent in several ways – for example, darkened at the front, visible at the back or vice versa. Very interesting and useful fun.
The Solarbay roof is the result of a joint development between Renault and Saint-Gobainm, which you may know as a manufacturer of automotive glass for primary production. At the heart of the technology is Saint-Gobain Sekurit’s fully electronic AmpliSky® system, which uses a PDLC film between two sheets of glass that are electrically charged and rearranges the liquid crystals for the desired transparency. Also thanks to this technology and design, the height of the vehicle has been reduced by 30 millimetres, which has contributed to improved aerodynamics and range.
The new Scenic offers a lot of space in the front, but also in the back, and the trunk is more than usable as well. Lengthwise, there’s so much space in the back that even an adult can easily sit in it and make a longer journey. There’s plenty of room in width as well, and two adults and one child are no problem. Perhaps only the anchoring of the rear seats may seem too low to some.
Proof that Renault has thought of the rear passengers is the clever armrest, which features a perfectly designed integrated mobile device holder. Any parent will tell me that this is invaluable for longer journeys. The boot then offers up to 545 litres, which is certainly enough volume for all the family’s luggage. Under the bulkhead at the bottom of the boot, you’ll also find an extra huge plastic box where you can very conveniently hide all your charging cables for the journey…
As we hinted at the start, the new Scenic is moving with the times and so you can only get it as an EV. It’s based on the CMF-EV platform, just like every electric Renault of recent times. The electric motor drives only the front wheels, with a power output of 160kW (218bhp). That’s not a bad figure at all, and for a family stagecoach it’s more than adequate. The motor has 300Nm of torque, which it is capable of delivering between 1,000 and 5,090rpm.
You’ve probably already read that one of the main advantages of an electric motor is the maximum torque available from zero revs, and in order to make proper use of this feature, an electric car needs to have good traction. And that’s something that pre-wheelers never have, and the new Scenic, with its large and heavy torch that has its centre of gravity somewhere under the rear and therefore far from the driven axle, certainly doesn’t. So definitely don’t expect it to kick you in the back like, say, some Tesla. It does, however, have responsive and smooth slip control, so it doesn’t rake unnecessarily, but it does get moving slowly.
The Scenic model needs a relatively unremarkable 7.9s to accelerate from 0 to 100km/h and has a top speed limited to 170km/h. Both parameters are, of course, fully sufficient for all common situations, but the great excess of dynamics that some other manufacturers are trying to attract customers to electromobility simply won’t be found here.
The chassis is also set to cool. The Scenic is pleasingly comfortable, suffers no major body bumps and can carry its crew in exactly the right amount of comfort for a French car. A very good turning circle is also nice, which you’ll appreciate, not least when parking. Acoustic comfort is also exemplary and no unwanted noises penetrate inside even at higher speeds. But what about the range?
Combined cycle electricity consumption is 16.8/-17.3 kWh/100km, according to the manufacturer. We managed to run our combined cycle (50% county, 30% city, 20% highway) for an amazing 15.6kWh/100km. The battery capacity is a respectable 87 kWh, which by simple maths gives us an interesting range. In sunny weather and temperatures above 25 degrees, it was quietly close to 600km on a full charge. The battery itself weighs 515kg, uses nickel-manganese-cobalt technology and is supplied by LG.
At the very end, I’ll mention the thing that pleased probably the most. Since today’s new cars beep all the time, almost unrelated to the safety of your driving, and we have to turn off these “homologation bugs” before every drive, it’s not always entirely easy. Renault introduces a MySafety button in the Scenic, under which you store your preferred assist settings – calmly turn everything off, and because neither lane keeping nor speeding can be switched off at the touch of a button, according to the regulations, you press the button twice. Simple, equipped, thank you. Other car companies – learn.
The price of the electric Scenic starts at €43,900 in Evolution trim. Considering the equipment and the extraordinary range, this is a very attractive price. Already the basic equipment will offer an important heat pump, automatic dual-zone air conditioning, rear parking camera, keyless entry and start or mirror phone. The tested Iconic trim with the amazing Harman/Kardon audio (which provides 410 W through 9 speakers, including a subwoofer, and includes a pedestrian engine sound setting tuned by Jean-Michel Jarre himself) and with extras like the augmented reality pack or the aforementioned Solarbay roof, came out to a total of €53,950 and we missed absolutely nothing in the car anymore.
So the Renault Scenic has left us with the compact MPV segment it once founded. Under its bonnet you will also no longer find an internal combustion engine but an all-electric powertrain. Those who welcome these changes will find in it, also thanks to its relatively large battery and excellent range, a very reliable partner for everyday driving.
