RENAULT SCENIC E-TECH ESPRIT ALPINE
You can see why they wanted to revive the name. The Renault Scenic was a massive hit with car buying families in the Nineties. But that was that and this is this. It’s a longish wheelbase long range electric family car. The original Scenic is history and so are its one box profile, and three individual folding and sliding rear seats. Fair enough – people gradually stopped buying those MPVs, and unused seat mechanisms just add weight and cost.
These days the sales are in crossovers and so doubtless Renault wouldn’t mind if you mistook this for one. Actually it’s less than 20mm taller than an ID.3. Renault has another family electric hatch, the Megane, but people have complained it’s not roomy enough in the back and that it can’t go quite far enough on a full battery. The Scenic is and can.
The 391-mile WLTP range looks good. In Britain you could reasonably tilt for 260 motorway and 300 elsewhere, and there’s a heat pump and battery conditioning to keep it up in winter. Rapid charging is competitive.
It night not have gymnastic seating but family amusing gadgets aren’t wholly absent. Around the rear armrest cupholders are pivoting grippers that hold tablets and phones. They can be set either across the car so both people can watch the same screen, or at 45° so each can see their own, hooked to the four rear seat USBs. Overhead, optionally, is a glass roof called Solarbay that needs no blind because it can be switched elect
