Electric vehicles are quieter and more environmentally friendly than internal combustion engines. But there is one competitive advantage that is being briefly overlooked. It is infinite scalability. In internal combustion engines, high output and large displacement are proportional, but in electric vehicles there is no concept of displacement at all. Electric vehicles can produce high output even from a small-capacity battery. The only trade-off is reduced driving range.
The virtue of electric vehicles that the Renault Scenic paid attention to is "scalability." The focus was that the character can be changed as much as the developer desires. The character that resulted is the "Fun EV." Electric vehicles are quiet and fast, but it challenged the perception that they lack the actual joy of driving.
While competing brands focused on efficiency, price, safety and convenience equipment, the Renault Scenic emphasized "fun driving" more.
As a result, its character changed significantly.
Renault's Scenic E-Tech 100% Electric (hereafter Scenic) is evaluated as having implanted the traditional conditions of fun driving into an electric vehicle. It rekindled the faintly lost "steering feel" and "body unity" in electric vehicles. Making driving feel a differentiating factor, it prioritized that over other virtues of electric vehicles.
The first condition of fun driving was the steering ratio. A low steering ratio of 12:1 makes the vehicle respond immediately even when the driver moves the steering wheel only a little. The maximum number of steering turns is also only 2.34 turns, showing instant movements half a beat faster in not only turning around alleys but also sharp U-turns in the city and winding courses.
If the steering movement is sharp, the body must be able to accept it stably. To that end, the Scenic applied a multi-link rear axle suspension and precise spring settings to minimize rolling and suppress the feeling of the body leaning in corners. The actual rolling angle is suppressed to around 0.4°, keeping the control and body flow continuously connected. Structural advantages such as a long wheelbase, wide tread and battery placement under the floor also highlight the body balance. It is an approach that seeks sedan-like agility and SUV-like stability at the same time.
Power can also be used as evenly as the driver wants. The 160 kW (218 ps) motor and 300 Nm torque deliver strong power from the start and reach 100 km/h from a standstill in 7.9 seconds. The Scenic strongly expresses its character as an electric SUV that maintains the "fun of driving" as the electric vehicle's characteristic instant acceleration is added to the tense movements created by steering and chassis.
Scenic's advantages continue in efficiency and convenience. The five-step regenerative braking and one-pedal driving functions provide a driving experience where the driver directly adjusts even deceleration timing, expanding electric vehicle driving beyond mere convenience into the "fun of operating." The driving range is up to 460 km by the MOTI standard (battery capacity 87 kWh), sufficiently supporting long-distance travel. It uses domestic LG Energy Solution's NCM battery, and offers a 10-year or 160,000 km warranty, easing consumer concerns about reliability.
An electric vehicle that retains driving enjoyment while also taking care of practicality and reliability. Even on familiar roads, the response is alive at the fingertips on the wheel, and the electric SUV precisely traces lines on weekend winding roads. Scenic shows that electric vehicles do not have to give up emotional appeal and suggests the direction in which driving feel should evolve in the electrification era.
Scenic is the model that most clearly showed that the joy of driving remains important even in the electric vehicle era. Because driving should be fun.
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