The original 1996 Scenic was a huge hit for Renault and helped create a boom in C-segment minivans in Europe that only began to fade with the arrival of similarly sized crossovers and SUVs a decade later. Jump forward 27 years and now it’s Renault playing catchup. The automaker is reinventing the Scenic as a crossover-style EV to take on VW’s ID.4, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, Ford Explorer EV and the Scenic’s own cousin, the Nissan Ariya.
Renault won’t fully reveal the Scénic E-Tech Electric until the Munich Auto Show this September, but it’s released a handful of pictures of an artfully camouflaged car to give us a taste of the production version of last year’s Scenic Vision concept car. The images show that the Scenic has moved away from the one-box minivan shape and taken on a more traditional crossover-hatchback form that features a regular car-style hood.
We don’t know exactly what’s under that hood, but it’s not hard to speculate based on the powertrains offered in the Scenic’s slightly less roomy brother, the Megane E-Tech Electric, and Nissan’s Ariya. All three vehicles ride on the CMF-EV platform which can be configured in front- and all-wheel drive forms, the two-wheel drive cars placing their single motors at the front, rather than in the back as is the case with some rival EVs such as the VW ID.4.
Related: 2024 Renault Scenic E-Tech Coming To Reclaim The Practicality Crown
The Megane is only available with FWD, tops out at 215 hp (218 PS / 160 kW) and offers a maximum of 60 kWh of battery, but the Scenic’s motor lineup will surely match the Ariya’s, which extends to a 389 hp (394 PS /290 kW) bi-motor setup and 90 kWh of battery power.
We’re not expecting the Scenic Vision show car’s hydrogen powertrain to make an appearance, at least not when the car goes on sale in Europe in 2024. The concept featured a front-mounted electric motor producing 215 hp (160 kW / 218 PS), a range-extender hydrogen fuel cell generating 21 hp (16 kW / 22 PS), and a 40 kWh battery. This hybrid setup allows the vehicle to carry a twice as light battery for the same range.
Renault hasn’t released any dimensions for the new Scenic but if the production car measures up to the concept it will be 4,490 mm (176.8 inches) long, making it noticeably bigger than the Megane (4,199 mm /165.3 inches), and a taller roofline will add to the interior volume. Unlike some previous (Grand) versions of older Scenics, however, the EV will only be available with five seats, rather than seven.
