2026 Renault Scenic E-Tech: Australian first drive

Renault has always been one of those brands that is grossly important in status and heritage, unofficially entering the Australian market in 1903 and officially in 1943.

Yet, it’s always been a bit of a niche brand in Australia. Like many French cars, you once had to be an enthusiast or go against the grain to sink your money into one of these cars Down Under.

While Renault Australia has struggled with updates to its ageing range, most models being five or more years old now, sales figures show that it’s certainly not the most popular brand in Australia. Its height in 2015 saw 11,525 models sold, but that has since dwindled to 4569 in 2025.

I’ve always had a soft spot for the brand. It does what no other brand really wants to do, and designs cars that are just flat-out strange-looking, and therefore, likely owned by left-field enthusiasts.

The Scenic nameplate was last in Australia nearly two decades ago as a small petrol-powered people mover. Fast-forward to today, and the car has morphed into a small SUV on the larger side of its class, now electric-only.

Technically a fifth-generation Scenic, but a first-generation Scenic E-Tech, the car has already been on sale in Europe since 2024 and utilises a similar platform to the Nissan Ariya, with some bonus features.

On paper, the Scenic E-Tech boasts some pretty impressive specifications for a small SUV, despite taking two years to get here. Not only that, but it seems to go against Renault’s unofficial selling point of niche-looking cars – it's attractive, at least in my own opinion.

Pricing for the 2026 Renault Scenic E-Tech starts from $55,990 plus on-road costs. It comes with two battery sizes, two power specifications, and three trim levels.

Renault's entry-level Techno EV60 starts with a 60kWh battery powering a single 125kW/280Nm motor for the front wheels and boasting a 430km claimed WLTP range.

The Techno Long Range EV87 is next up for $59,990 plus on-road costs, and sees no other changes besides the bigger 87kWh battery, bringing WLTP claimed range up to an impressive 625km while boosting power to 160kW/300Nm.

A top-spec Esprit Alpine edition starts at $65,990 plus on-roads and utilises the same battery and motor combination as the Long Range, just with additional features included.

Its main competitors are the Nissan Ariya, starting from $55,840 plus on-roads - a car that shares a lot of similarities under the skin, the Hyundai Kona, which starts from $54,000 plus on-roads - externally smaller but also a small SUV, and a Kia EV3 Earth Long Range for $58,600 plus on-roads.

You'd be hard-pressed to find another European car that rivals the price of Asian brands, let alone one that seemingly beats all three within the specifications list, yet the Renault Scenic sits incredibly close to these options in price, has more range, and more equipment.

Standard equipment across the board sees a vertical 12-inch infotainment, with a Google operating system as well as wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, 12.3-inch full-colour instrument cluster, wireless phone charger, power tailgate, 360-degree camera, tyre pressure monitoring system, LED lighting all round, and ambient interior lighting.

As mentioned, the Long Range sees the same equipment, but the Esprit Alpine adds face ID for saved seat and mirror positioning, infrared windshield, metal pedal covers, six-way power adjustment for the front row, massage functions for the driver, metal accents on the door trims, synthetic leather and cloth combo for the seats, Alcantara steering wheel, nine-speaker Harman Kardon speaker system, Alpine grille, and 20-inch alloys.

I only had the chance to drive the top-spec Esprit Alpine edition, which has its cabin quirks, but comes with one of the nicest interiors in this segment.

The Scenic sits at the top end of the small SUV category, meaning it’s in limbo between medium and small. Don’t think it’s the same size as something like a Suzuki Vitara or Volkswagen T-Roc, as it’s more like a Volkswagen Tiguan or Kia Sportage in size.

I had no trouble adjusting the driver's seat into a position that suits my 184cm frame. I was able to sit comfortably with enough headspace and leg room underneath the steering wheel, although my knees touched the steering column occasionally when shifting my position.

The synthetic leather is used sparingly throughout the interior, and Renault has opted to go with a nice woven cloth for the dash and pillar trims. Instead of absorbing all of the heat that comes through the windshield, the cloth seems to deflect light and balance the interior out, and will likely last a whole lot longer than a standard leather or fake leather dash.

For far too long, electric cars have been treated as a piece of tech that does interesting things, rather than focusing on just being a car, running processes through a dash, and being a bit of an 'enthusiast' approach to technology.

What the interior of the Scenic does really well is that everything is labelled and most things are controlled via physical switches/buttons, which all makes sense. It isn’t overcomplicated, which is something that is desperately needed for the electric segment.

Uniquely French features are evident in the car's four levers around the dash: a gear selector, indicator stalk, wiper stalk, and an audio controller. It takes a bit of getting used to, and it does look a bit weird to have a wheel cluttered with doohickeys to yank on.

Still, once you play with it for a while, it makes a whole lot more sense to have everything within a fingertip's reach rather than having it all on one stalk, putting the gear selector where the indicators should be, or even putting the indicators as buttons on the wheels.

The second-row space is comparable to something like a BYD Atto 3. There’s more than enough space to support two teenage or young kids in the back comfortably, although adults may be a little uncomfortable due to the lack of under-seat space to slip your feet under.

It wouldn’t be a French car without its quirks, and the second row is flat-out cool. It has a centre armrest that folds down to expose a long support with two integrated cupholders. Lifting the centre of this presents a table holder with USB-C charging ports. Even stranger are two individual arms, which extend out to work as a phone/tablet holder you can adjust into a number of different positions.

The boot space is akin to a non-hybrid Hyundai Tucson, measuring up to 545 litres with the seats up, but offering a deeper space rather than a longer section. So, you can fit plenty of small items but may have to lay the seats down, opening up to 1670L, to fit some of your longer objects in.

As for the infotainment system, it somehow works better and is much quicker to process than other vehicles at the price point, not to mention that it’s a gorgeous and colourful display.

Processes work on Google software, which just makes sense when you think about it. One of the biggest tech companies in the world handling the user interface makes for a better experience than a car brand sorting out the software. Some brands have done it well, but most haven’t.

You can run your own maps from Apple CarPlay or Android Auto on the main vertical screen, then use the built-in Google Maps on the dashboard. For any maps fanatics, like me, it works tremendously well to have the live updates from Waze on the main screen, then the accurate and shortcut routes that Google gives you on the dashboard.

For the most part, the Renault Scenic E-Tech is a straightforward drive, which will do a good job of perhaps converting people over to an electric powertrain. Instead of focusing on pumping out too much of that 'instant torque' EV enthusiasts love to mention to the wheels, it offers a linear throttle input akin to an internal combustion engine.

I wouldn't expect a rocketship if you're looking to capitalise on the EV performance segment. With top power specs set to 160kW/300Nm, it's enough power to make a quick escape from traffic lights or a swift overtake on the freeway.

The standout features have to be the safety and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) that Renault has put specific focus into making “European”. What I assume Renault means is that it’s not constantly beeping its head off at you whenever you do something wrong or take your eyes away from the road for a millisecond. It just gives you a polite reminder to stay within the lines if you’re drifting off to the side, while keeping you in check when you're genuinely not paying attention.

Still, if you don’t want any driver monitoring or speed checkers, the Scenic allows you to set up a custom profile so you can switch off all of the monitoring with one press; something I felt I didn’t need to do during my time in the car.

Overall suspension comfort is quite nice. It does crash a little over hard bumps, but soaks up the majority of our horrendously paved Australian roads, even on those larger 20-inch alloy wheels. The road noise is noticeable, but is easily blocked out by a dynamic Harman Kardon sound system.

Everywhere you look, there seems to be a new toy to play with, like the rear-vision mirror. It's unassuming to most, but a flick of the dimmer tab in the middle reveals a digital rear-vision screen instead of the mirror, which blocks out harsh light at night.

The Scenic has an incredibly tight steering ratio, which makes the driving experience a little uncomfortable if you’re not used to it. Whereas an average car would take a full spin of the wheel to make a turn, the Scenic seems to cut it in half.

It does make it easy to navigate throughout tight carparks, and Renault has acknowledged that a short-ratio steering rack can be a bit iffy on the freeway, so it has added extra weight. But it’s still a bit too sharp for my liking, and likely most buyers too. I do see buyers getting used to this over time, though.

A quirk about the car I don’t see buyers getting used to is the brake pedal. The bite point almost feels like it's ever changing, and you either aren’t pressing it enough to slow down, or you’re pressing it too hard and get a jolt. It makes the whole driving experience juddery and results in the inability to get into the groove when in stop-start traffic.

The flip side is an extraordinarily adjustable regeneration braking system, which essentially offers settings that mimic an ICE car all the way up to single-pedal battery regeneration. I found myself reaching for the single-pedal mode, which has never been something I'm fond of, just to ensure I didn’t need to touch the brake pedal and make myself car sick.

Speaking of car sick, the Scenic tends to exhibit body roll through the corners. The suspension has likely been tuned for a comfortable fit for the average driver, but it lacks the stability and handling of others in its class.

Despite being one of the lightest cars in this EV class at 1840kg (Esprit Alpine), it pushes a lot of weight onto the front outside wheel when cornering, resulting in understeer and a loud tyre squeal.

While you likely will not ever push this car through turns, it’s an important point to make when considering drivers swerving out of the way of animals and debris. It also accentuates the amount of movement through the car. I found myself shifting around in the seat a lot as the car swayed its way through corners, which was made more extreme by the short steering ratio.

Besides those stick-out problems, small annoyances came in the form of a relatively low-resolution reverse camera and the A-pillar being quite thick with the driver monitoring camera in it, which leads to a slightly larger blind spot.

Unfortunately, I did not get enough time to check the WLTP-claimed consumption of 16.8 kilowatt-hours per 100 kilometres, which leads to a current class-leading range of 625km. However, finally, a brand other than Tesla has given us a real-time range calculator.

On the right side of the dashboard, there is a little gauge that moves up and down depending on the type of driving you are doing to give a realistic range. Say you’re travelling down the freeway, it’ll slide down showing your driving environment will give you X amount of range, and vice versa with city driving.

A max DC fast-charge rate of 150kW is another impressive feature – leading to a 15 to 80 per cent charge in around 37 minutes – but it’s not exactly the most future-proofed speed, with other cars exceeding 300kW rates in 2026. Albeit, many of them are more expensive.

Renault is a quirky brand – it always has been, and always will be. But it has packaged a decent car, on first impressions, that has selling points beyond interesting styling and a cool interior.

That battery range, which we will put to the test once we get the car for an extended period, along with the interior comfort, packaging and overall city-driving experience, offers a really attractive deal with the range starting below $60,000.

The Scenic E-Tech makes the most sense with the long-range versions. It’s welcomed with open arms to finally have a smaller car crack the 600km-plus EV driving range, with most other options being larger cars that offer less appeal to childless couples and elderly drivers.

There's not a whole lot more to look at in this segment that makes sense for the money. Take a look at the Nissan Ariya – a car that the Scenic beats on the spec sheet and drive experience, the Hyundai Kona EV - smaller with less equipment, but offers a more refined drive, and the Kia EV3 Earth Long Range, following the same vibe as the Hyundai Kona.

It’s certainly an attractive car for the most part, despite its annoying quirks. I don’t doubt that we will see a resurgence from Renault if the brand stays on this trend.

Zane Dobie comes from a background of motorcycle journalism, working for notable titles such as Australian Motorcycle News Magazine, Just Bikes and BikeReview. Despite his fresh age, Zane brings a lifetime of racing and hands-on experience. His passion now resides on four wheels as an avid car collector, restorer, drift car pilot and weekend go-kart racer.

Read more about Zane Dobie