Renault is going through a serious renaissance at the moment. Pulling away from its nadir of losing billions of Euro during the Covid pandemic, Renault has launched a bunch of genuinely exciting new models, from the gorgeous little Renault 5 EV to this rather more sensible Scenic, the updated Captur and the handsome Rafale. With the likes of the revived electric Renault 4 waiting in the wings, the fab new Twingo and the astonishing all-electric recreation of the 1980s Renault 5 Turbo mid-engined Group B rally car going on sale, Renault really seems to be knocking it out of the park of late.
This Scenic took a bit of a risk, though. While the dinky Renault 5 revived both the name and the styling of the original, the Scenic just borrowed its name from the 1998 Scenic MPV, one of the most innovative and ground-breaking cars of all time. Before everyone bought SUVs, family buyers loved their versatile MPVs, and the Scenic was the first medium-sized take on the body style which was affordable enough for most family buyers.
This time around though, the Scenic has bowed to the inevitable, and become an SUV itself. Like the original, it’s a roomy five-seater, but can it live up to the legacy of the original?
How much is the Renault Captur in Ireland?
There is an entry-level Evolution model of the Scenic which comes with a 60kWh battery, a 170hp electric motor and an official range of up to 430km. To be fair, that’s enough range for most people and, with a price of €39,995, it’s decent value especially when you consider how much space there is in a Scenic.
Standard equipment includes 19-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights and brake lights, pop-out flush-fit door handles, a 12.3-inch digital instrument panel and a 9.0-inch infotainment screen, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, recycled cabin trim, a six-speaker Arkamys sound system, heated front seats and steering wheel, a heat-pump heating system and a full suite of safety kit including adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, rear parking sensors and camera, automatic emergency braking and driver attention alert.
Our test car was the big-battery 87kWh version, which gets a 220hp electric motor and a potential range of up to 625km. Additional equipment includes 20-inch alloys, a 12-inch infotainment screen with built-in Google software, a massaging driver’s seat, a Harmon/Kardon stereo, a panoramic sunroof with ‘Solarbay’ variable transparency, a 360-degree parking camera, an electronic rear view mirror, adaptive LED headlights and a safe exit warning for the doors. All of that has pushed the price up to €55,670.
If that’s a bit too steep, there are more reasonably priced Techno (€46,995) and Esprit Alpine (€48,595) models which are available with the bigger battery and longer range.
Driving the Renault Scenic on Irish roads
This is such a relaxing car to drive, a big part of which is down to the useable range (see below) and the rapid charging ability (on AC power as well as DC).
But the Scenic is also a really nice car to drive. Which sounds like damning with faint praise, but it’s not. Too many cars are set up to be sporty but end up with a too-firm ride and too-light steering which just can’t meet in a satisfying middle.
The Scenic, instead, isn’t designed to be sporty and just gets on with being comfortable and refined. In such terms, the Scenic delivers, and ends up being a more satisfying car to drive overall than most of its ilk.
The Scenic actually corners quite tidily, and if the steering is on the light side, then it’s sufficiently accurate to engender confidence in the car. Mostly though, you just sit back into the wonderfully comfortable front seats and relax.
It helps that the Scenic is also really spacious. It may not be as versatile as that original 1990s Scenic with its simpler rear bench seat, but there’s copious legroom in the back, and the seats are every bit as comfortable as those in the front. The flip-down armrest, with its built-in phone and tablet holders seems a little gimmicky, but some will find it useful no doubt.
That space, though, gives the Scenic a breezy, airy feeling as you drive along, which just adds to the relaxing sensation. It’s all rather lovely.
What is the Renault Scenic’s electric range?
It depends on how you drive it as ever. On long motorway runs, the Scenic’s electricity consumption crept up to around 19kWh/100km, which suggests a range of around 400km on long, fast journeys - pretty well in line with Renault’s claim that a full charge of the 87kWh battery allows for around three hours of driving at motorway speeds. In more mixed conditions, that consumption fell to between 17- and 18kWh/100km, which is close to the official figure, and enough that you should be able to confidently plan on 500km journeys in a Scenic, at least in mild weather. Winter driving will naturally eat into that, but with a standard heat-pump heating system, even then the impact shouldn't be so bad.
The Scenic’s charging is also impressive. There’s up to 150kW of charging power available if you’re plugging into a sufficiently powerful DC public charger, but as ever Renault’s insistence on fitting its EVs with standard 22kW AC charging means that plugging into the cheapest kerbside chargers means you can potentially get a very quick charge on slower, cheaper power. A couple of hours charging at 22kWh is more than half-a-battery in this Scenic, far better than can be achieved by those rivals who insist on topping out their AC charging at 11kW. That is of course dependent on whether or not another car is using the same charging point, but it’s a useful ace in the hole at times.
What are the Renault Scenic’s rivals?
The Scenic is facing an increasingly busy corner of the market, with the likes of the Volkswagen ID.4, the Skoda Enyaq, the Cupra Tavascan, the Ford Explorer and Capri, the Toyota bZ4X, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, and of course the Tesla Model Y all providing stern competition. The Scenic stands out thanks to its combo of style (eschewing the retro look of the Renault 5 EV, but handsome all the same), its spacious and stylish cabin, and its Google-based infotainment system which really does show the rest the right way to do a touchscreen (hint: it’s by keeping plenty of physical buttons too).
Does the Renault Scenic nail the brief?
I could be all child-of-the-nineties here and declare that no modern electric SUV can hold a candle to the spacious, innovative, egg-shaped original Scenic. In one sense, I’d be right, but I’d also be churlish, as in the modern car market the new Scenic is definitely one of the strongest performing EVs around. While you do need to pay a considerable sum for the bigger battery, it’s worth it as that lengthy useable range makes driving the Scenic more relaxing, which combines with a comfortable ride quality and an inviting cabin to make it more relaxing still. It’s also roomy, practical and has one of the best infotainment setups around. Even with the price tag of this Iconic version, you’d be hard pressed to resist the Scenic’s charms.
Ask us anything about the Renault Scenic
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