Louth Motors: A beautiful normal EV car

We are all being brought along on the EV conversion journey by car manufacturers, and we are at a point now where we don’t have to be an evangelistic about buying and owning an EV.

How the early Nissan Leaf owners must be jealous of this we shall never know. EVs are probably everyone’s starting point for a new car and depending on price and expected use, a lot of buyers are converting to good old volts and amps.

That’s how far they have embedded themselves into our subconscious and instead of justifying why you have bought an EV you’ll probably spend more time explaining why you didn’t.

So once that argument is no longer the main talking point about an EV you are then onto the car itself and why you bought it.

This is much more comfortable territory for buyers and the same time and tested reasons emerge. Space, price, use, number of seats etc.

But EV looks have always been low down on the reason as to be frank, electric cars looked different and I believe made to look different to make them stand out and show that you were driving an electric car.

Not anymore, especially with this new Megane E-Tech. Quite simply it is not just a good-looking electric car it is a very good-looking car regardless of method of propulsion. In perpetuating the EV v all other types of cars, it would be very easy to write it is the best looking EV on sale – I believe that - but because EVs are so common now I’ll report that it is one of the best looking cars on sale.

The only thing that signals this is an EV is the lack of holes in the front grille that you see on non-electric vehicles but the way the front is designed makes it look like it has them. Sleekness when ascribed to a car is always a compliment and I’ve yet to find an appropriate word for “more sleekness” but if there is one then it applies to the Megane E-Tech.

It has it in spades and the shape is more family hatchback with a smattering of crossover-SUV. It is bang on the shape buyers are looking for today. From any angle the proportions look great, and the overall smoothness of the car epitomises sleekness. Top marks Renault.

Inside the car gets a cool interior building on the cool exterior.

The array of digital displays will be unsurprising and whilst the drivers 12.3” and central 9” displays are seamless, they look separate. Renault has resisted going all touch and they give you a few buttons as well.

I love the wireless phone charger location just under the central display and the centre console has a touch of class about it as it has different levels and floats.

There is great visibility for the driver and rear passengers also get a very pleasant ambiance. Getting into the back is effortless and it is one of the best at this for less agile members of our families.

Carrying their stuff should be easier with the bigger than competitors 440litre boot.

Driving the E-Tech, or any electric car, you always get that sense of super-quick acceleration, unsurprising in this case with 220bhp available.

It’s great to know that it’s there when needed but once you get over that initial joy most electric car owners start to modulate acceleration and pace with battery use and in most cases acceleration restraint wins out.

I mean in reality you won’t get there any quicker hairing away from a standstill so why waste your battery energy?

I drove the car like this most of the time and I returned a consumption of 18.8kW per 100kms for an expected range of 319kms from its 60kWh battery.

All the other drivers before me averaged 18.2kW per 100kms so we all must be exerting controlled restraint. Renault quote 16.1kW per 100kms or 372kms.

You can charge it at a maximum rate of 130kW and my real-world charging time from 10% to 80% was 42 minutes and when I was disconnecting it was charging at a rate of 37.2kW from an initial rate of 105kW.

It is a good handling car with a sporty enough drive and that goes somewhere to explain the absence of the soft suspension setup you usually get from Renault.

It’s not totally gone but the ride is harder than what a lot of Renault drivers would expect.

It is quiet though and quite a fun car to take trough your favourite set of bends. Just don’t expect to feel everything the front wheels feels.

Prices start at €37,495 for the entry Equilibre model with my test model, with extras costing €46,345. It is already the second best-selling car in its sector here in Ireland after the established VW ID3 and deservedly so.

It’s wonderful that we are back to where we are considering cars on looks and motoring ability again with the electric aspect taking a backseat.

It will never fully go away because driver range and recharging anxiety are still factors in an EV owners’ life.

However, the Megane E-Tech allows buyers show that they are primarily car afficionados and appreciate all aspects of a car and are not just EV environmental evangelists. Beauty is back.