Renault Scenic review: The best electric family car at this price

Renault Scenic Iconic E-Tech

£45,495

£46,900, which includes the cost of an Arctic White metallic paint at £1,250 and a false boot floor at £155.

369 miles (WLTP)

320-280 miles (summer running)

3.4m/kWh

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In addition, the Scenic is one of the first electric vehicles to provide more than 350 miles of WLTP range at a price of approximately £40,000; with smaller-diameter wheels on the base long-range model, you will achieve a 379-mile range for a list price of £40,995. Alternatively, for most customers, the PCP monthly finance costs are around £350 per month, assuming a £5,000 deposit or part-exchange on a 36-month agreement.

To make winter motoring more manageable.

Our test car, conversely, was a top-of-the-range Iconic model, which raised the price to £45,495 and came with a luxury panoramic glass roof, adjustable opacity and 20-inch alloy wheels, along with a premium Harman Kardon sound system. There is also a mid-range Esprit Alpine trim available, which, unfortunately, fails to live up to its Alpine name and lack sporting credentials, although it does boast blue interior trims and large wheels.

A rather pale shade of white (albeit, albeit temporary, barely).

I think a lot of people will go for the Iconic trim, primarily because the massive panoramic roof really does elevate the interior's atmosphere. What's clever is how you can adjust the roof's transparency in stages. The way the wheels look on an already modern and fashion-forward family car is brilliant as well.

You'd like to see how this service works, so let's sign you up for the seat covers and upholstery cleaner, shall we?

In all honesty, over the three months I had the car, the seats held up reasonably well. They were not ideal for hiding crumbs and showing stains, but they vacuumed and cleaned easily, so it wasn't as big a problem as I'd imagined.

I'd suggest opting for the basic Techno model, to be honest, as the Lower-spec Techno and Alpine Esprit trims come with more family-friendly finishes in fabric or leatherette, thus saving some money by making do without the panoramic roof and stylish wheels.

Range of delights

is so intuitive.

To be honest, that sounds about right

This is all fairly normal kit in cars of this class, but it still feels like a refreshing kind of cutting-edge tech that I can get into the Scenic and have all the device's functions from my phone neatly displayed on the screen.

In fact, the Scenic's massive touchscreen display enables it to accommodate clear, large icons, and the menus are also very easy to use, so I quickly got the hang of it. After a while, I didn't find myself spending much time interacting with the car's screen while driving - which, let's be honest, is what we all want, isn't it?

It's also very comfortable and pleasant to drive, with a sufficient range that I hardly ever needed to use rapid chargers. I managed an efficiency of 3.4 miles/kWh, regardless of how I drove, which works out to a real-world range of well over 296 miles, even though I mostly drove on motorways. That was when the weather was fine, but the standard heat pump gives me optimism about the efficiency in colder weather.

I'd like to be Use a safety net with financial security if it means not having all of my money tied up in a project.

You should press the button twice to activate your preferred safety settings. For example, you may opt to disable the speed limit warning, which emits a sound reminiscent of a submarine's sonar, and the lane-keep assist.

You can do that, save it to your settings, and then it takes less than a second to double-tap the button to switch them off, with a single tap to turn them back on.

Land Rover uses a comparable system, where you activate your preferred safety features using a hold-down button, but it's surprising to see other manufacturers not adopting this strategy. I'd even argue that having one-touch control of the lane-keeping assist is safer because it helps prevent the system from applying unwanted steering corrections, which can be disconcerting.

Even if that means swerving towards another vehicle.

I believe it's often the driver who has a clearer understanding than the vehicle's safety features and clever systems, so it's extremely important to have straightforward control over them - to manipulate their operation when desired - which I think Renault does exceptionally well, and I feel that other companies should be emulating its high standards in this regard.

Charging ahead

I didn't often need to use fast public charging points as the Scenic had reasonable range and I had the luxury of being able to top it up at home, but there were a few instances during my three-month period with the car where I needed to charge up on the go.

It did the job really well, although I never managed to reach the 150kW peak charging rate. I typically saw a peak speed of around 120kW, but that was still quick enough to give a 100-mile top-up in about 15 to 20 minutes, which is more than acceptable to me.

It was a big help when I ensured I entered the charging location into the Google navigation, as this switched on the car's battery pre-heating feature. If I were to think of some things that could be improved, I'd mention it would be handy to have a dedicated button or on-screen symbol to turn on battery pre-conditioning, ideally without having to leave CarPlay or Android Auto.

This affects a lot of factors, including the number of other drivers topping up their vehicles at the same time, the ambient temperature, the charge level of your battery when you begin charging, whether you've performed the correct charging rituals in the morning, and several other things by all kinds of things.

Despite its SUV-like design, the Scenic is one of the electric cars in its class to offer rapid charging and an impressive range, marrying well to a drive that was effortlessly impressive over the 4,800-kilometre journey in my experience.

Easy does it

It was the Scenic's ability to simplify my everyday life that truly made a lasting impression. In terms of value, especially considering its heat pump technology, it seamlessly integrated into our family's lifestyle, exuding a sense of class without being pretentious.

While the Enyaq is marginally longer than the 4.4-metre-long Scenic, all things considered, size isn't everything on UK roads.

This feature, priced at £115, is a useful addition for anyone, and essential for dog owners in particular. However, it's unfortunate that this option isn't automatically available, even via the website, and must instead be specifically requested from your dealer as an aftermarket feature.

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I'm confident I'm not the only parent who's anxious about kids spending even more time glued to their devices, but I'm certain many others will love the clever phone mounts designed to slide out from the armrest.

The Telegraph verdict

When I first tested the Scenic E-Tech, I was somewhat let down by its versatility. I felt that a car with the Scenic badge was being slightly misleading, implying that features like a phone holder and a spacious but awkwardly shaped boot were suitable for families.

This remains true in many respects. Nevertheless, in reality, the boot had ample space for both my elderly labradoodle and her spirited terrier companion, the adaptable rear seats were extremely comfortable and the perceived build quality could not be improved upon, and the infotainment system was one of the most user-friendly for its kind.

In addition, the Scenic is a pleasure to drive and will keep going without needing a charge for a far longer period than my bladder will tolerate. I garnered several comments on how striking it looks, and to be truthful, I was in agreement with them. Overall, it is an exceptionally impressive family car.

I do wish it had sliding seats, though. I still think that a number of buyers will anticipate more in this regard, while only offering nearly-white upholstery as a finishing option on a family car (even in the top-of-the-range model) seems a bit absurd.

I didn't really need that extra versatility when I was dealing with the chaos of family life, with muddy uniforms, sports gear, bicycles, trips to the football club, long car journeys on the motorway, big supermarket shops and all the rest. No, the Scenic handled it all with style.

At this price, for the quality it offers, along with the ease of use and comfort it provides, it actually puts many of its competitors to shame. That's a bonus for me and the other European Car of the Year judges, as it confirms our decision to give the Scenic this year's overall award was a wise one.

Spending more time using it has undoubtedly confirmed that this is the top electric family car in its price category.

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