Renault Scenic review

In the UK, you get the choice of a 168bhp motor coupled to the 60kWh battery or one with 217bhp that’s paired with the 87kWh battery.

We’ve driven the latter, and 0-62mph in 8.6 seconds is more than enough straight-line acceleration, with useful motorway thrust available beyond that. It's front-wheel drive and the motor's low-rev torque is enough to overcome the Scenic's slightly weak traction even in the dry if you come out of a small roundabout with too much pedal.

The steering is accurate but lacks feel (what big EV doesn’t?). It’s pretty quick straight off the middle, and could do with a little extra weight just in those first few degrees: it's easy to zig-zag a little until you're used to it. Choosing the heavier steering weight in Sport mode does help. More so than in the related Megane.

Anyway, the Scenic feels lighter than almost any other large family EV. You don't get the sense you're causing a reluctant mass to change direction. What lets it down is the suspension: it’s geared for everyday use, so the body loses composure when you change direction or brake heavily. Absolutely the right compromise for Renault to make, but still. We had higher hopes given the 50:50 weight distribution.

The brakes are well-regulated - if a bit grabby at low speed - and you can alter the regeneration with the paddles. Firm-ish springs mean you do feel bumps, especially at low speed, but the dampers iron out most big jolts. There's little tyre or wind roar until you get above 60mph.

How does the range hold up?

Pretty well. We’ve only tried the big battery so far, and on British roads (but no motorway) we got 3.4mi/kWh - aka 295 miles - on a warm day. And we were giving precisely zero thought to economy. The official claim is 379 miles (and 260 for the smaller battery), but the drop-off from expectation to reality is on par with what we see from other electric cars; perhaps even a little better.

What about the driver aids?

Adaptive cruise control with lane centring is standard on the top-spec trim, and so is blind-spot assist. Lane keeping, and auto-braking for vehicles and people, plus various overspeed warnings are fitted to all Scenics as the law mandates.

Like BMW sensibly used to have (but no longer does) there's a physical button on the dash that you press to engage your preferred settings, which you can alter on the touchscreen. So if you want everything off, you don’t need to furiously jab away at the screen every time you start up the car. Brilliant. Why doesn’t everyone do this?