Rene, I am impressed with your review of the Megane E-Tech. The AP is too high, but for those who can afford the payment it seems to have a lot going for it. When I say I’m impressed Rene, I’m basing it on the fact that historically you say it exactly as you see it, and are brutally honest (and often abrasive, lol). Good post.
Yeah, the AP is steep – realistically too much so. That said: we’ve got an Astra PHEV for 20% more AP on the scheme, so i’m not quite sure where to put it. As in, whether that’s what we’ve got to expect from EVs in the future on the scheme, or if it’s an outlier. Compared to (the current) Kona, and even the ID3 when it still was on the scheme, it’s of course a huge ask.
Yeah, being honest isn’t always great, but alas. You call it abrasive, i call it “not caring about what others think of me” – i say it as i see it. On the flipside: while that honesty can be abrasive to strangers (i’m not arguing that point), it also guarantees that my friend circle who puts up with it is genuine. Two sides to every coin.
The Megane E-Tech in my opinion is far better than its Nissan Arya cousin. There is too little space in the rear for us, so not a car for me. Even if it did, I would never pay £6k on a scheme car, but each of us are different.
Well they’re not really comparable – same platform underneath, but very different size wise. I will say that it’s much, much better looking than the Ariya. We haven’t driven the Ariya, and won’t do so – for the obvious elephant in the room that is the Ariya AP, as well as the fact that i personally think it’s a little bit of a minger.
You are right though, the Megane does not have much space on the rear seats – one thing to keep in mind here with that though is that it’s, confusingly, a pretty small car (doesn’t look it, probably due to the 20inch wheels). We were actually surprised, it’s only 4.21m – compared to an Astra for example at 4.37m, 1series at 4.32 etc. The roofline isn’t helping either – which also, as an addendum, leads to rear window only rivalled by our mail box slit – slightly alleviated by the well designed/sized side mirrors.
Boot size is good for an EV, apart from the hugemongous loading lip mentioned which i could see be a genuine problem for people with back problems.
On the flipside, the fact that it’s an EV from scratch (like the ID3, but unlike the Kona) has the advantage of a flat floor – there’s no lip/ledge you got to climb over when getting into the car, the floor is level with the bottom of the door. Weird sensation (was in the ID3 too), but is genuinely pleasant and easy to get in and out of.
The car is £750 more than the GTE as we ordered it – we’re not certain yet which way to go, but this by itself is already an achievement if you think about it. 10 years ago i’d have laughed you out of the door if you gave me a choice between a VW and a Renault – now we’re pondering with pro and contra lists, and question all our life choices.
Prior: SEAT Ateca Xcellence Lux 1.5 TSI DSG MY19, VW Golf GTE PHEV DSG MY23
Current: Hyundai Ioniq 6 Ultimate
Next: we'll see what's available in 2028.