The updated Renault Scenic and Megane have gone on sale in the UK – and, thanks to it now qualifying for the full £3750 Electric Car Grant, the latter is priced from £28,245.
Both electric crossovers were recently facelifted, gaining new batteries that have boosted their ranges.
The nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) pack in the Scenic has had its capacity bumped up by 2kWh, netting an extra 13 miles of range, for a total of 392.
Meanwhile, the Megane has swapped from a 60kWh NMC battery to a 67kWh pack using lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) chemistry, which has increased its range to 310 miles.
The LFP battery is more sustainable, owing to its production and reduced use of rare-earth metals, helping the Megane qualify for the full £3750 UK government grant, rather than the previous £1500.
It also has an improved peak charging rate of 165kW, cutting the 15-80% refill time by a quarter to 24 minutes.
The big discount means the Megane is now among the more affordable electric family hatchbacks: the Volkswagen ID 3 starts at £31,080 (inclusive of its £1500 grant) and the Vauxhall Astra Electric at £28,495 (also including a £1500 grant).
The Scenic receives the same £3750 grant as the Megane, putting it at £33,245.
That’s significantly cheaper than its main competitor, the Tesla Model Y (from £41,990) and brings it closer into line with Chinese challengers such as the Geely EX5 (from £31,990).
