What makes the Renault Scenic E-Tech a winner?
That may be a slightly trickier question to answer than you think. It’s a bit like asking what makes a person more attractive, or whether an Indian takeaway is better than a Chinese? It’s largely subjective, dependent on your own opinion and priorities, and it’s usually down to a combination of individual factors that are bigger than the whole. And yet, fresh off the back of another award, the Renault Scenic E-Tech is proving to be a serial winner.
This time, Renault is celebrating yet another prestigious honour for its Scenic E-Tech 100% electric, after the fully-electric family car was voted the overall winner at the Scottish Car of the Year (SCOTY) 2024 awards.
Scotland’s most experienced motoring journalists and road testers awarded the ultimate “Scottish Car of the Year 2024” crown after being impressed by the Renault Scenic E-Tech electric’s styling, interior versatility, and excellent driving range, among many other qualities.
Which seems like an obvious place to start trying to pin down the secret of the all-electric Scenic’s success.
It probably won’t come as much of a surprise to hear that the Renault Scenic has been a winner since the day it was launched. Originally unveiled at the end of 1996, the Scenic immediately won European Car of the Year for 1997 thanks to its spacious interior and versatile MPV layout. Although Renault discontinued the old Scenic in 2022 this was only a temporary state of affairs ahead of the launch of the new all-electric Scenic E-Tech in 2024.
Not that the Scenic changed very much, apart from ditching the engine in favour of batteries.
Scenic Styling
The Scenic E-Tech 100% electric’s design has proved to be groundbreaking. It features a fully flat floor, large 19- or 20-inch wheels, a long wheelbase, and a panoramic roof, creating a stylish and adaptable space perfect for any journey.
The face of the all-new Scenic E-Tech 100% electric features Renault’s updated “Nouvel’R” logo and new signature headlights. As you approach the vehicle – assuming you’re in possession of the key – the lights will dance in a striking welcome sequence, and the adaptive LED technology that adjusts the lighting pattern according to the driving conditions is also quite useful when it comes to lighting your way too. The high-tech lights continue at the back, mimicking two arrows that appear to stretch the width of the vehicle and equipped with Micro-optical technology that brings them to life when activated, yet they appear to float when switched off.
Six body colours are also available:
- Flame Red,
- Midnight Blue,
- Diamond Black,
- Shadow Grey,
- matt Shadow Grey (exclusive to the esprit Alpine trim)
- and Arctic White.
Scenic Interior
The stand-out feature of the Scenic E-Tech 100% electric is the Solarbay panoramic glass roof that uses a combination of polymer dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs) to change the opacity of the glass one segment at a time.
The driver and passengers can choose any of four roof settings: full light, full opaque, light at the front and opaque at the back, and vice versa. It can even be operated by voice control using the built-in Google Assistant.
Clever storage solutions are also a major feature in the Scenic E-Tech 100% electric, with up to 38.7 litres worth of cubby holes dotted throughout the cabin. There’s no shortage of cupholders in the Scenic, and even rear passengers get their own armrest with even more storage and a couple of USB-C ports.
In addition to the sunlight coming in through the Solarbay roof, the upholstery’s clean tones enhance the feeling of interior space while the elegant design takes comfort to the next level.
Scenic Technology
In terms of technology, the OpenR Link multimedia system with Google built-in features more than 50 apps available from Google Play, all accessed through a 12.3-inch driver information display on the dashboard and a 12-inch vertical central display in the middle of the console.
The journey planner has also been optimised by Google and Renault engineers to take into account the need to pre-condition the battery temperature when nearing charging stops on a journey. This allows the system to make smarter decisions about where to charge and how to optimise charging time to reduce journey times. Even the weather has been factored in to more accurately estimate the battery’s remaining range by taking information such as wind direction and speed into account.
Scenic’s Battery Range
The Scenic E-Tech 100% electric Long Range features a 220bhp motor coupled with an 87kWh battery pack to achieve a driving range of up to 379 miles. The Comfort Range utilises a smaller 170bhp motor powered by a 60kWh battery to achieve up to 260 miles on a single charge.
The 87kWh version is available in a choice of three trim levels – techno, esprit Alpine and iconic – while the 60kWh Comfort Range model comes exclusively in techno trim. And while it’s not really a deciding factor in an MPV, the electric powertrain also means both versions can sprint to 60mph in around 8 seconds - Comfort models take 8.6 seconds while the more powerful Long Range version can do it in just 7.9 seconds.
As we mentioned above, pre-conditioning of the battery also happens automatically as the car nears a scheduled charging stop, ensuring it is at the optimal temperature on arrival and helping to cut charge times. As a result, a 30-minute liaison with a fast-charger can add around 200 miles to the range.
Other factors helping to extend the Scenic’s driving range and efficiency include four levels of regenerative braking to recover kinetic energy and return it to the battery. A heat pump is also fitted as standard to recover heat and energy that would otherwise be wasted.
Fully electric and packed full of useful technology, the award-winning Renault Scenic E-Tech 100% electric is available for you to lease right now.
It’s highly likely that amongst all the reasons it’s a serial winner is the reason why it’s your ideal lease choice.
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