9 August 2024

The new Renault Megane E-Tech might have found the cure for tailgating

| James Coleman
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Renault outside the AIS

The Renault Megane has returned, bigger and more electric. Photo: James Coleman.

We’re told to maintain a distance of no fewer than three seconds from the car in front to avoid ploughing into them if they brake suddenly.

The puzzling thing is, every modern car has the tech to tell you this – what with radar systems for the adaptive cruise control and windscreen-mounted cameras for everything else.

But up until now, no car ever has. We’ve all had to count out the seconds in our head.

In the new Renault Megane E-Tech, however, a graphic on the screen directly in front of the driver will flash red to show you how naughty you are if you get within one second of the car in front, yellow if it’s between 1 and 1.8 seconds, and green for between 1.8 and 2.2 seconds.

The Olympic opening ceremony might have had you thinking the French were all out of good ideas, but this is here to say they’re not.

And it’s just the first of many I found in the new … whatever this car is.

READ ALSO Car makers are finally listening to driver complaints about annoying warning chimes

Forget everything you know about the Megane.

The name has been represented by all sorts of body styles since Renault first came up with it in the late 1990s – most famously, a three or five-door hatchback, but also a sedan, wagon, coupe, and even a convertible for monsieur.

But none of them have ever been the “fully electric crossover” we have today.

I suspect I know what happened. The engineers went to recreate the hatchback but discovered the slab of batteries didn’t fit underneath.

This now also means the Megane is playing in the same space as other EVs like the Tesla Model 3, Hyundai IONIQ 5 and Volvo EX30. And costing about the same. In its single spec of ‘EV60’, it starts from $54,990.

But unlike when they decided to reinvent Da Vinci’s Last Supper, the French did their homework this time.

Renault has made sure that nearly everything you touch and feel inside – up to 28 kg worth, in fact – is recycled. The body is crafted from aluminium, and any offcuts are remodelled and reshaped for use in other vehicles for “absolutely zero waste”. Up to 90 per cent of the car is recyclable, and the brand plans to start recycling used batteries in a new factory from next year.

steering wheel

The ‘multi-sense’ button accesses the different drive modes. Photo: James Coleman.

Renault has even thought of buyers with niggling fears of ending up in a lithium-ion inferno and, together with French firefighters, worked on a way to bring the three hours it normally takes to extinguish an EV fire down to as little as five minutes.

“A metal rupture disk seals the battery throughout its life to ensure watertightness in everyday use,” the Australian website reads.

“However, if a fire starts, it breaks under the force of a high-pressure jet of water directed by firefighters, allowing water to reach the battery directly.”

The car itself looks far from as ungainly as it should, with thin lights and windows, high haunches and large wheels that combine to give it quite the aggressive presence. Like a bulldog. A French bulldog, if you will.

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The downside is you’ll see more from inside a post box than you will out the back window. But Renault realised this too, which is why if you flick the lever on the bottom of the rear-view mirror, the view switches to a rear-mounted camera.

The little thoughtful touches continue.

The main touchscreen, as well as the line of physical buttons underneath it, is angled towards the driver for easy reaching.

The wireless phone charging tray jutting out from underneath it might look a bit unsightly, but it’s also perfect for holding your phone upright. At least until you put your foot down and the phone goes flying.

During a work lunch run, we also discovered the storage cubby between the seats can snugly hold a foot-long sub. Top marks there.

The Megane isn’t as violent to drive as many EVs, either. Renault claims a lazy 0-100 km/h time of 7.4 seconds, but there’s still enough instant torque to have you searching the footwell for the phone that was fired from the charging tray a few traffic lights ago.

It’s about 100 kg lighter than the Tesla Model 3, with a kerb weight of 1642 kg, and far plusher in the suspension department, too.

But now to the tour de force. In the corner of the windscreen is a rooster sticker, a nod to France’s national animal. Tell me that doesn’t make you inwardly happy.

windscreen

Spot the chicken. Photo: James Coleman.

The reincarnated Megane is not perfect.

Renault claims 454 km of range, and maybe it’s just the Canberra winter, but I was only offered 250 km from an 80 per cent charge. So it’s pretty much tied to around-town duties.

You have to adjust the front seats manually, and during another work lunch run, I ended up in the back seats where there’s no room between the front seats and the floor to even slide your toes under. It’s cramped. Except for the boot – that’s massive.

But it was hard not to be impressed. And that’s something nobody’s said this week about the French.

2024 Renault Megane E-Tech

  • $54,990 plus on-road costs
  • 60 kWh battery and electric motor, 160 kW / 300 Nm
  • Front-wheel drive (FWD)
  • 0-100 km/h in 7.4 seconds
  • 454 km estimated driving range
  • 1642 kg kerb weight
  • 5-star ANCAP safety rating.

Thanks to National Capital Motors (NCM) for providing this car for testing. Region has no commercial arrangement with NCM.

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Capital Retro3:48 pm 06 Aug 24

Any “plan” for EV’s is heavily subsidized, Roger.

Self-interest is good, no?

Article begins with lament for the “3 second warning” to prevent tailgating saying no car has this feature. Ahem. My car, designed in 2016, has just that feature and it is adjustable. It’s great. It shows in the instrument binnacle and in the heads-up display – without being an eye-worm. I guess, however, that inveterate tailgaters turn it off.

Agree, we have a turbo Kia and Jeep Grand Cherokee and both have adjustable vehicle front distance. The Kia is permanently on when cruise is engaged and the Jeep has to be turned on or off. To claim this is something new is a little far-fetched.

James Coleman7:41 pm 04 Aug 24

That sounds more like adaptive cruise control than what’s being talked about in the Renault?

My 2013 VF Commodore has a similar proximity warning, so not sure this new Renault is that progressive.

Like ALL EV’s this Renault appears to work well in Canberra, a city? Now go one hundred kilometres in any direction and road test that same vehicle there for a week and see how the negatives increase to the point where that vehicle becomes an absolute pain in the rear end. On the border there are about a dozen charging stations for EV’s and half of that number are owned by one of the local councils. The cost of installing a charging station in your home remains at well over $7,000, prohibitly expensive. Then there’s the cost of charging your EV battery at 45 to 48c a Kw/hr and a full charge takes well over 6 hours for most EV’s and it’s much more expensive at a council charging station. No thank you. I will keep my ICE vehicle and you can keep your EV for Canberra. One last point to note is what is the second hand price for a 4 to 5 year old EV? ANSWER: Virtually scrap value……zero.

Doubt you could identify an electric car if you saw it on a trip. But none of this is even approaching up-to-date or accurate.

@Rob
Yawn – yet another anti-EV rant

Tried looking up carsales, or finding any other facts?

If the ranting feels so good, you could just graffiti it on your lounge room wall.

LOL, did you get a quote for installing a nuclear power plant in your garage? PS, I have a 9 year old EV still worth 30% of new with battery at 88% of original capacity.

I’d like to know where these “virtually scrap value” 5 year old EV’s are advertised.

I’m not convinced about current battery technology but if they are that cheap I’ll buy a 5 year old EV to run around town in. $7000 for a home charging station is less than 18 months of petrol bills if you are spending $100 a week on fuel.

Roger Moore-Carter10:21 am 05 Aug 24

My home 7kw charger cost $1070 installed and I pay 8c per kWh from midnight to 6am on AGL’s EV plan 😉

Capital Retro3:22 pm 06 Aug 24

Any “plan” for EV’s is heavily subsidized, Roger.

Self-interest is good, no?

A Nonny Mouse5:15 pm 08 Aug 24

Installing charging at home costs nothing like $7000. At a minimum, you can have an ordinary power point for a few hundred dollars and use the portable charge cord that usually comes with a car. For a bit over a thousand dollars, you can have higher powered, wall-mounted charging unit that is solar-aware with the option to vary the car’s charge rate to track your solar output.
Please show me where all these almost free 4-5 year old EVs can be purchased.
I get that you don’t want an EV yourself but why do they bother you so much that you would misrepresent them?

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