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Drove the Renault Megane plugin hybrid: 7 significant observations

3rd July 2023, 11:02 by Deepankar Sadekar

The suspension is firm and silent, a typical European set-up, which on European roads, of course works well, giving the car driving dynamics which you won’t expect from such a humble car.

BHPian SBP_drives recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Renault Megane Plug-in Hybrid (2021 model) Driving Impressions:

“All-in-all, this car is jack of all trades, master of none, and that in my books for the audience its supposed to pander to, is one-of-the-best options to consider.”

During my recent Nordic travels, I had planned to explore the Lapland region of Sweden. It being the summer season during my time there, it made perfect sense to do this by a car in order to explore the finer niceties of life which blooms under the pleasant shining sun. Soon began a hunt to get a self-drive car which ended with me pocketing the keys of Renault Megane Plug-in Hybrid (2021 model). When I was getting the car, I was neutral in my expectation from the car, but this one blew me away and how.

My impressions from the drive and the car:

Its a 1.6 litre naturally aspirated engine coupled with a 9.8kwh battery in a strong hybrid set-up together providing 160 hp. This being a smidge bigger than our Baleno back home, made for a quick and an eerily silent car.
The electric only range of the car is slated to be around 65km for highway run. And in my time with the car, the battery was depleted around the 50 km mark – could be because of my initial enthusiasm of learning the mannerisms of this car.
It came with level 1 ADAS features and the music system gets the job done but lacks the sophistication.
The controls were ergonomic and except for the left-hand driving orientation, it was a breeze to control.
The suspension is firm and silent, a typical European set-up, which on European roads, of course works well, giving the car driving dynamics which you won’t expect from such a humble car.
The boot space appeared to be around 385 litres in volume and was well shaped, taking in our big pieces of luggage with ease. There’s no loading lip, making it convenient to load and unload.
Driving this car on the open expansive expressways of Sweden was a delight. There was minimal road noise creeping into the cabin, almost negligible tyre noise and the car’s tendency to shift to electric drive mode ever so often made for a relaxing drive helping me cover large distances effortlessly.

Does this car make sense for India?

Short answer – yes, long answer, please carry on reading…

While Renault may have registered itself as a brand to reckon with because of the Duster name plate (and rightfully so), in the present day, it is riddled with question marks. One might wonder why a global brand such as Renault is struggling to reclaim its position in the Indian market considering it has a good product line-up in the foreign markets. We as Indians, are in love with fuel efficient cars, and will put the safety and the driving aspects in the lower priority list. With the warm reception received by our latest strong hybrid entrants, Vitara and Hyryder, to my mind it makes sense for Renault to bring in its hybrid technology to the Indian shore and spice up its offerings in India. Specifically in respect of Megane, this being a hatchback, which is a body style which rakes in the numbers when done right, has the potential to be received well in India. For bringing this to the Indian market, Renault will definitely need to shorten it to a 4 metre length, reduce the engine capacity from 1.6 litre, to probably their 1.2 NA petrol engine, or probably plonk their 1 litre turbo petrol engine and reduce the battery capacity from 9.8kwh to a 7 kwh for getting the price right. And with every passing day, the Indian consumer is actually becoming comfortable to cough up a premium price for a product done right, I would think that Renault could re-consider its Indian product strategy and surprise us. Or can they just simply launch a strong hybrid Renault Kiger (a model which has been decently accepted in the market) – only time will tell!

Cheers!