Renault Megane E-Tech: Crisp New Beginning

It looks sleek, it should drive sleek – the new Renault Megane E-Tech. Thanks to a battery that is only eleven centimeters flat, the center of gravity could be lowered by nine centimeters compared to the combustion engine, and Renault translated the steering more directly. The weight was kept in check thanks to small batteries (40 and 60 kWh): Thus, with weights starting at just over 1.6 tons, it just about falls into the upper range of the compact class – and very good for an electric vehicle. The top motorization delivers 160 kW and 300 Newton meters of torque.

Enough to pull away powerfully and enjoy the ambiance that Renault has also completely rethought and designed more premium compared to the combustion engine. It is a mix of touch and analog controls and much more premium than that of the VW ID.3. The infotainment was developed together with Google, which brings many advantages in practice: The Megane understands such abstract commands as "Show me the next charging point on the route" and the displayed map visualization is crystal clear. The assistants also work cleanly and unobtrusively, only a head-up display has been omitted.

Renault specifies the consumption according to WLTP as 15.5 to 16.1 kWh, which in practice becomes around 20 kWh, reducing the range from up to 470 to a real 300 kilometers – Then DC fast charging with up to 130 kW can be used – ideally charging from five to 80 percent in half an hour. More patience is needed with the smaller version, which charges only single-phase: The 40-kWh battery then takes around eleven hours from zero to 100 percent, which is why we definitely recommend the three-phase charger with the 85 kW DC fast charging function here.

Advantage of the "smaller" battery: It lowers the weight and slightly reduces consumption – and for those who find around 200 km of range sufficient, this can be satisfactory. Prices for the Mégane E-Tech Equilibre EV40 130hp standard charge start at 35,200 euros gross before deductions, which is just under 29,580 euros net. The large battery is available from the Mégane E-TECH Evolution EV60 220hp optimum charge starting at 43,500 euros gross, which is just under 36,560 euros net.

What does that mean?

With the new Megane E-Tech, Renault has a hot electric vehicle on the market that will quickly find its customers, especially since the segment is (still) comparatively thinly populated.