Renault takes on VW ID3 with Megane E-Tech Electric

MARBELLA, Spain -- The Renault Megane E-Tech Electric marks a series of firsts for the automaker.

It is the Renault brand’s first full-electric compact passenger car, launched this spring nearly 10 years after the Zoe small car's debuted.

The Megane is also the first major launch -- no matter what kind of powertrain -- under Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo, who took over in 2020 and is shifting the automaker’s focus to the compact segment and higher-priced cars from lower-margin small cars. 

And it is the first Renault model on the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance’s CMF-EV platform, which eventually is planned to underpin hundreds of thousands of cars a year. It will be the first full-electric passenger car built at Renault’s ElectriCity manufacturing cluster in northern France.

In yet another milestone, the Megane is the first Renault with infotainment functions built around the Android Automotive operating system, called OpenR Link. Renault says this allows for a more smartphone-like experience, with Google apps such as Maps, Assistant and Play built in to the system. Users can link to their own Google accounts, and Android Auto and Apple Car Play can also be used.  

Renault is offering the Megane with a number of drivetrain options: two battery sizes (40 or 60 kilowatt-hours) and two power levels (96 or 160 kilowatts, or 130 or 220 hp). Range for the 40-kWh battery with a 130-hp motor is 300 km; for the 60-kWh battery with a 130-hp motor it is 470 km; the same battery with the 220-hp motor has a range of 450 km.

Prices (in France) range from 35,200 euros for the base 40-kWh/130-hp version to more than 51,000 euros for the larger battery and more powerful motor, exclusive of any government incentives.

The more powerful electric motor gives the Megane a 0-100 kph time of 7.4 seconds; for the smaller motor it is 10.5 seconds.

Charging times vary by available power and battery size, with high-power DC charging an option only on models with the larger battery. For example, the 60-kWh battery can be fully recharged in 9 hours, 15 minutes from a 7.4-kilowatt wallbox; 3 hours, 15 minutes at a 22-kW public charging station; and 1 hour, 15 minutes at a 130-kW fast-charging station. 

Renault says the CMF-EV architecture offers a number of advantages: The center of gravity is 90 mm lower than the current internal-combustion-based Megane, thanks to a thin, 110 mm deep battery and flat floor.

With the wheels pushed to the corners, and the climate control components ahead of the firewall, the Megane E-Tech offers similar interior space to the conventional Megane, but at 4200 mm long, it is 160 mm shorter. (It is actually shorter than the Renault Captur small SUV.)

Styling was influenced by the Morphoz, which was the first Renault concept to be based on the CMF-EV platform, and prefigured a new design direction that can also be seen in the coming Renault Austral compact SUV.

Large surface volumes are punctuated by "jewel-like" details such as the brand's new stylized logo and high-tech LED lighting.

The Megane’s competition among mainstream compact EVs includes the Volkswagen ID3, Citroen e-C4, Kia e-Niro, Hyundai Ioniq Electric and Nissan Leaf. Compact EVs due in 2023 include two sibling models from Stellantis, the Peugeot 308 and Opel/Vauxhall Astra. 

According to Renault executives, just 9 percent of mainstream compact sales were full-electric models in 2021.   

As the segment becomes more and more electrified, Renault will continue to sell the existing Megane, in gasoline, diesel and plug-in hybrid versions on the CMF-C/D platform, so long as the demand is there, executives say.

It will follow a similar strategy in the compact crossover segment, where buyers can choose among the internal-combustion-based Arkana coupe and Austral family SUV, or an as-yet-unnamed compact full-electric SUV to be announced in 2023.