It’s a fact: Renault has succeeded with its latest electric cars. The Mégane E-Tech is receiving great praise, the Scénic E-Tech has just been voted car of the year and the electric R5 is making just about everyone salivate. It is also thanks to the latter that the electric Mégane and Scénic will soon improve, via two very practical updates. We present them to you.
If the electric adventure of Renault began in 2012 with the Zoé at the forefront, the range was recently expanded by very successful products : the Mégane E-Tech has become even more competitive with its price reductions, the Scénic E-Tech (which we have just tested) was crowned “car of the year 2024” and the Renault 5 E-Tech , just revealed, seems quite remarkable.
It is also thanks to the electric R5 that the Mégane and the Scénic will continue to improve. According to our information, “one-pedal” driving and an improvement to the route planner are in the cards… but not for all versions. Let’s expand.
Long trips more convenient for everyone
This first update is of the “software” type, and should affect all Méganes and Scénics already produced and to come. This is an improvement of the route planneralready present on cars (via Google Maps, thanks to the Android Automotive interface on the central screen of the latest Renaults).
This handy piece of equipment calculates the charging stops needed during long journeys. With this update, the driver will be able to set the minimum battery level that you want to have at a charging stop or at your destination.
Practical, for example, if you cannot charge once there, and an advantage over Tesla, whose planner does not (yet) have this setting. This update will arrive in OTA (over the air), and owners will therefore not have to do anything to benefit from it.
Smoother ride for upcoming models
The second update is called “hardware”, that is to say that mechanical parts will have to be modified. For the moment, the electric Mégane and Scénic can vary the intensity of regenerative braking on three levels via paddles on the steering wheel, but drivers must still press the brake pedal to bring the car to a complete stop.
Something that will be part of the past in a few months, since the “one pedal“ already announced on the Renault 5 E-Tech, will arrive on the Mégane and Scénic.
With this mode, the car can be fully controlled with the accelerator pedal alone : lifting your foot will decelerate the car hard enough to stop it completely, thanks to complete management of the regenerative and mechanical brakes. A driving mode very popular with drivers of cars equipped with this mode, and which will make driving electric Renaults even smoother.
Only problem: the Mégane E-Tech already on the road and the first Scénic (whose marketing is imminent) will not be able to benefit from it. Renault announced to us that this new cannot be retroactive, just like the R5. No date has been announced, but it would be necessary a priori starting in 2025. In other words, the Scenic and Mégane sold before this date will not benefit from one-pedal driving.