When lovely Paul from Renault rocked up in the Renault Scenic E-Tech that was to be mine for a week, I was both ecstatic and slightly nervous, having never driven a family-sized vehicle before.
After a week in the Renault, I’m pleased to report that I don’t think I could have crashed this thing, even if I’d tried!
Whoever was in charge of the safety features on this car clearly knew what they were doing (or they were a terrible driver themselves…).
This was not my first rodeo in a Renault (my parents used to own a Renault Espace), but crucially, this was my first time driving an EV for an extended period of time. Public charging, no fuel meter, range restrictions – all of this was all new to me, and I was very pleasantly surprised by how easy it all was to get used to. I discovered lamppost chargers on my road that I’d never spotted before, and dozens within a mile radius of where I live, in South London.
Despite not being a ‘car guy’, particularly, I ended up loving pretty much everything about my Renault.
The first thing I noticed was that the roof of the vehicle, a translucent glass panel, was configurable to be transparent, partially translucent or completely translucent. This was great for when I wanted to choose whether to block out the sun, or let more light in on a cloudy day. The car itself was also extremely comfortable, roomy and nicely laid out, with a digital screen on the dashboard, and a large tablet-esque screen for your Google Maps / CarPlay / Spotify display.
I alluded to the safety features earlier – one of the first things I noticed, and grew to love, was the red light on each wing mirror, which turns on when someone is in your blind spot. Fortunately, I always check my blind spot. If I were to forget to check it, however, then I would have been put off switching lanes on the motorway, should someone have been in my blind spot, by this very helpful little red light.
The car also plays a useful jingle if there are any speed cameras around, to remind you to stick to the speed limit. Fortunately, I always stay on or under the speed limit. If I were to exceed it, however, then I would have been swiftly notified by this very helpful little noise. These sorts of features shouldn’t be solely relied upon, but they definitely made me that bit more comfortable while driving.
So, any gripes?
Well, just one that I can think of, and fortunately it’s the sort of thing that should be fixable with a software update. At the end of each driving session, the car gives you a score out of 100 for ‘Eco’ and ‘Safety’ – a really nice feature, equipped with some tips on how to optimise your driving to be as eco-friendly and safe as possible. The safety feature is fundamentally flawed, however.
One of the ways it judges whether you are driving safely is whether you are above the speed limit. Rather than using Google Maps (or similar) data to work out the speed limit, it uses external cameras to pick up road signs. This means that, if you are on the motorway and there is a ‘40’ sign on the slip road, the car might just pick this up and decide that the speed limit (displayed on the dashboard) is now 40 mph. Luckily, the ‘ding’ signifying you are over the ‘speed limit’ does not go on for very long, but this feature meant the vehicle thought I was going 30 mph over the speed limit for a good half-hour stretch of motorway. The result? Well… take a look at my safety score below.
“Let’s improve your speed management” – the audacity! How about we improve your road sign awareness?
Jokes aside, this little oversight was a needle of annoyance in a haystack of enjoyment for me. Well, that, and the volume control was on the touch screen display, which was a little tricky to use while driving. I would’ve preferred an old-fashioned volume knob, or some buttons on the steering wheel. Okay, so two needles.
On the whole, I had a great experience with Renault’s Scenic E-Tech, and would very much recommend it to anyone looking for a comfortable, intuitive and sleek family car.
The car drives really nicely, and with its ~380 mile range, I was able to drive all the way from my parents’ house to Cheltenham, drop off my sister, and drive all the way back to my trusty lamppost in London on a single charge. Needless to say, I was very sorry when I had to give this lovely car back!
