Join me on an exciting journey into Electric Vehicle ownership. In this multi-part series, I will be documenting my new car journey, from my 2014 Golf GTI to my first electric vehicle. Check out Part 1 here – https://youtu.be/Km7h2EIvmC4
In Part 5 of this series, I was able to test drive the 2025 Renault Megane E-Tech Techno edition. This electric Megane C-Segment vehicle features a 60kWh battery with around 165-350 miles of real range, 220 horsepower, and a 0-62mph in 7.4 seconds.
As one of my first car reviews (so bear with me regarding knowledge and presentation), I test drive the Renault Megane E-Tech and give you my first-hand impressions of its interior, exterior, infotainment system and more! Check out my full CarPlay and Android Auto test in the car here.
The Renault Megane E-Tech was high on my shortlist alongside the Cupra Born and ID.3. All three share a similar size footprint to my VW Golf Mk7, with the Megane offering a much bigger boot space out of the three contenders, whilst being the shortest in length.
The Megane E-Tech comes with a 60kWh battery and a range of around 280 miles, which is a little more than the 59kWh Cupra Born and VW ID.3., but much less in range if you opt for the 77kWh battery on the latter mentioned models. With 220 horsepower, it matches my Golf GTI with its Performance Pack, but being a much heavier car, the megane chimes in at a second slower in 0-62mph with still honourable 7.4 seconds. A time that can’t be laughed out, considering its mini-crossover aesthetic.
As small hatch electric vehicles go, its exterior is one of the better-looking C-segment EVs that are out there currently. It has an SUV aesthetic, that in the flesh, looks like it has been slightly shrunk in the wash. In pictures, it looks much stockier than it looks in real life. You have to remember it sits within the same silhouette as the Golf.
Thanks to its short front bonnet, the interior is anything but sacrificed in space. The front feels very roomy and the rear is also no exception, with a rear interior feel that has a much more roomier feel than the Born and ID.3. Given the Megane also has a bigger boot space, there’s a lot of magic going on in this EV.
The Megane wins the boot space crown due to its boot height rather than its depth into the car interior. As a result, the boot does have a very deep lip, which can make lifting out bags of shopping and heavier items much more cumbersome. Without a boot riser, the Born and ID also suffer the same fate, but I feel it isn’t as problematic as the Megane, which can also have a boot riser to reduce the impact of this cliff edge of a boot lip. Oh, and if a powered boot lid is important to you, the Megane doesn’t have one, likely to save on cost.
Featuring a Google Automotive system, the Megane E-Tech feels very familiar if you’re a Google Android user. Google Maps comes as standard as the vehicle’s navigation system, which also works with the car systems to navigate and plan routes with battery SOC in mind. The Google assistant is also present to help answer questions, plot directions and trigger functions of the car systems and features.
Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto run very well, and all on a larger and more unique-looking portrait central display that comes as standard now on the 2025 year model. Both Apple and Google platforms adapt well to this display orientation, however, using it for video playback does feel limiting compared to viewing video content on a more suitable landscape display.
A large driver display partners the whole infotainment experience. Connecting to CarPlay also shares its navigation on this screen, for a richer (and much safer) navigation map section of the display, that can be adjusted to take up almost three-quarters of the display. Display modes can also be togged from the wheel controls to display lots of different information and driver data. I found the new R-Link system design with its cut-off speed-o-meter a little odd as a design choice, but it does reflect the overall modern feel of the car’s system. Bottom line, I liked it, and I found it one of the better infotainment displays in the current EVs I have driven. Sadly there’s no heads-up display, which is standard on the Born v2 and higher and a costly option on the ID.3, but with the size and crispness of the Megane’s centre display, I don’t think you’d be missing out too much.
Sadly, I only had 25-30 minutes of test driving the car with a Renault rep in the passenger seat due to the car being unlicensed at the time of test driving. A reason why I couldn’t shoot my POV video. Although I couldn’t put some decent driving time behind my first experience, the 30 minutes was just enough to loosely judge the overall feel of the car, but at least an hour could have raised more concerns or quirks.
My first critique was the lack of rear visibility out of its small letterbox-style rear window, which is worsened by its large rear headrests. A workaround has been created by Renault in the form of a camera-based view that can be toggled on the rear-view mirror. However, the flat nature of the video feed made it kind of a marmite feature for me, you’ll love it or not use it at all. Although my experience was short, I felt I was in the latter camp. Removing the central rear headrest may improve things here, but overall, this is a trait of its small rear window. It is also comical how small the rear wiper is, and due to the rear window’s height, it only cleans a less helpful dinner plate-size shape of the window, reducing rear visibility even more!
The drive wasn’t at all bad though, even fun at times, thanks to the classic EV instant torque and acceleration. I did feel less grounded than on my test drive in the Cupra Born. This is likely made present due to the Born being a much heavier car (the Born weighs 1964kg vs 1636kg of the Megane), and the overall drive did feel a little more rolly, like driving an SUV, than the more rigid feel I got from driving the Born for the same amount of time. The Born felt more close to what I was used to in my VW Golf GTI.
After test driving and accessing its interior and infotainment system the Megane E-Tech came up trumps and currently sits alongside the Cupra Born, possibly beating it in some areas. But my final decision on which EV to choose will come down to their lease latest prices, and what stock, specifications and deals are available at the time. When looking at the Renault Megane E-Tech lease purchase, they are both in similar price territory at times, but more often, the Megane comes out £50-£150 higher in monthly costs than the Cupra Born. Right now, I am seeing costs over £450 per month for a 2yr + 6mo + 10K deal, which is very high and much higher for a similar spec Cupra Born. But on some specs, the Megane Iconic trim can out spec the Born, so do factor that in if you’re also looking between these two EVs.
After driving all five EVs, I have a closer idea now of the vehicles to look for and I will keep an eye on leasing deals. In the next installment of my EV Journey I’ll go over my final EV choice and what I finally upgraded to!
If you would like to see me test any other EVs, let me know in the comments. If you are a UK press representative for a vehicle brand and would like to invite me to test drive your latest models, you can also get in touch via the contact form.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Intro
0:10 – Front interior
0:50 – Driver display
1:39 – Wireless CarPlay
2:06 – Navigation on driver display
2:30 – Media stalk & others
3:07 – Interior & glove box
3:26 – Wireless charging
3:33 – Custom wheel button
4:00 – Central display
4:15 – Storage
4:27 – USB-C connections
4:42 – Rear interior
6:26 – Boot space
6:47 – Door handles
6:54 – Wrap up
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