We've had a lot of beefs with EV dashboards: some rely too much on touchscreens, some deprive the driver of a proper instrument panel. That translates into a WLTP range figure of 280 miles. That means a motor of 220bhp, a battery of 60kWh (220bhp only) and DC rapid charging. But for the moment the UK range is simple: the biggest helping of everything. In France there are two motor outputs and two battery energies, and even two charging speeds. The Megane is front-drive only, which gives it a bigger boot than the VW ID.3. So the 'base' car was quietly shuffled off to oblivion. Then in mid-2020 Renault got a new boss, Luca de Meo, and on his second day he looked at prototypes of both and said 'just make that one'.

'The finance department didn't think much of the sports version,' says van den Acker. They actually designed two versions of this car: the regular hatch and a sporty one, with widened arches and more aggressive bumpers. 'An electric vehicle needs to be super-fluid and aerodynamic or you don't get anywhere.' Its roof height is lower than a VW ID.3. Renault's design chief Laurens van den Acker argues it's not an SUV despite the black wheel-arch extensions.

Tech reviews