2024 Renault Scenic E-Tech electric SUV unveiled, Australia under consideration

The 2024 Renault Scenic E-Tech electric SUV has been unveiled, ahead of European showroom arrivals early next year – and it is under consideration for Australia.

The Scenic E-Tech is a small electric SUV roughly the size of a Toyota Corolla Cross, Nissan Qashqai or Hyundai Kona, and offers up to 620km of claimed driving range. 

The Scenic name was previously used by Renault on a small people mover – albeit little more than a tall hatchback – based on the Renault Megane small hatchback.

And in an interesting twist of fate the new electric Scenic is also based on the latest Megane – but this time both vehicles have been rebooted as SUVs, powered by batteries and underpinned by a dedicated electric-car platform shared with Nissan.

Australian plans for the Renault Scenic are yet to be confirmed, with a spokesperson for the company’s local distributor telling Drive it is “interested” in all models produced in right-hand drive that can be made to meet Australian motor-vehicle regulations, but a local introduction is yet to be locked in.

The smaller Megane E-Tech is due in Australia early next year, priced from $64,990 plus on-road costs.

The Scenic E-Tech is based on the hydrogen-powered Scenic Vision concept unveiled by Renault last year, and wears the company’s new corporate front fascia with distinctive arrow-shaped daytime-running lights.

If there are hints of Peugeot in the Scenic’s design, it is no surprise – Renault’s current design boss, Gilles Vidal, came from the car maker’s number-one French rival.

Highlights of the design include 20-inch alloy wheels, flush-fitting door handles and the option of an Esprit Alpine version with sportier bumpers and trim. Two-tone paint finishes are available.

It measures 4470mm long, 1864m wide and 1.57m tall – making it about 45mm longer, 29mm wider and 54cm lower than a petrol and hybrid Nissan Qashqai.

Thanks to the dedicated electric-car platform – called CMF-EV, shared with the Megane E-Tech and Nissan Ariya – the wheelbase measures 2.78m, about 11.5cm longer than the Qashqai, for improved interior space.

Inside, front occupants face a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, and a 12-inch infotainment touchscreen running software based on Google’s Android.

There is an expansive panoramic sunroof Renault calls 'Solarbay', which uses “polymer dispersed liquid crystals to change the opacity of the glass one segment at a time,” and switches between transparent and opaque depending on the weather conditions and time of day.

Renault says it is “the first mass-market car manufacturer to offer a panoramic roof that can be either fully or partially opacified in segments,” and the roof offers four settings: full light, full opaque, “light at the front but opaque at the back, and the reverse.”

It claims the roof unlocks 30mm of headroom as it eliminates the need for a conventional roller blind, and is 6kg to 8kg lighter. Half of the glass is made from recycled materials, and 90 per cent of it can be recycled at the end of its life, says Renault.

The French car maker highlights there is 38.7 litres of cabin storage, between the glovebox (4L), door pockets (13.6L), open centre console storage area (6.6L), two cupholders (2L), a storage area under the centre armrest (3.4L), two pockets behind the front seats (4.8L total), and the rear-seat armrest (3.6L). There is 545 litres of boot space behind the rear seats.

Powering the entry-level Scenic ‘Standard Range’ is a 60kWh battery and a 125kW/280Nm electric motor, good for a 9.3-second 0-100km/h acceleration time, a 150km/h top speed, and more than 420km of claimed WLTP driving range.

The High Range model upgrades to an 87kWh battery and 160kW/300Nm front motor, for a 0-100km/h time of 8.4 seconds, a 170km/h top speed, and 620km of claimed WLTP driving range.

DC fast charging is offered at up to 130kW in the standard model, or 150kW in the High Range, to add approximately 350km of driving range (or 50kWh in the top model) in a 30-minute charge.

Renault highlights what it claims is the quickest steering ratio in the class, a 10.9-metre kerb-to-kerb turning circle, and four levels of energy recuperation.

The company says the batteries in the Scenic E-Tech are 6 per cent denser than those in the Megane E-Tech, using the latest nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) chemistry from supplier LG.

Advanced safety technology on offer includes adaptive cruise control with stop and go, autonomous emergency braking, and lane centring assist.

The French car maker says up to 24 per cent of the Scenic’s materials – and 90 per cent of its mass, including the battery – can be recycled, including a bonnet and doors that are made from 80 per cent recycled aluminium, various recycled fibres and oils in the interior, and no leather anywhere in the cabin.