New Renault Scenic vs Kia EV6 vs Tesla Model Y

The contenders

NEW Renault Scenic E-Tech Long Range Iconic

List price £45,495
Target Price £41,692

The reinvented Scenic is a well-priced electric SUV with a long official range of 370 miles in the range-topping form we’re testing

Kia EV6 RWD Air

List price £45,275
Target Price £43,384

Our reigning Family Electric SUV of the Year blends a competitive range with fine driving manners and roomy rear seats. It’ll be tough to beat

Tesla Model Y RWD

List price £44,990
Target Price £44,990

Britain’s best-selling electric SUV has great efficiency and practicality on its side, but a budget of £45k only gets you into the entry-level RWD version

New car prices have gone through the roof since the pandemic, with even the cheapest electric Vauxhall Astra now priced at almost £38,000. Luckily, Renault is on what seems like a solo mission to reintroduce some sanity to the market, with its latest models, including the Clio hatchback and Captur small SUV, undercutting the competition by thousands of pounds in some cases.

Now that same value for money can be found in the brand’s electric line-up, thanks to the arrival of an all-new Renault Scenic. This one-time MPV has morphed into a trendier SUV, and you can buy one for £37,495 – less than the cost of an electric Astra and thousands less than you’d pay for a typical battery-powered family SUV rival.

Indeed, we had to wheel out the most expensive version of the new Scenic, with its enormous ‘Long Range’ battery and range-topping Iconic trim, to make this a fair comparison with Britain’s best-selling electric SUV, the Tesla Model Y. The cheapest version of said Tesla costs about the same as our range-topping Scenic, yet it has a smaller battery and a much shorter official range.

Our final contender is the Kia EV6 – also the cheapest version, to match the aggressive pricing of the Scenic. However, the EV6 is a former What Car? Car of the Year, so it should have some serious talent to justify its price tag, even though it’s due a significant update in the very near future.

Driving

Performance, ride, handling, refinement

Tesla has built its reputation on producing ludicrously quick cars, but the competition is nipping at its heels. For instance, the 295bhp Model Y and the 226bhp EV6 are separated by just 0.1sec from 0-60mph, with the latter clocking a very respectable 7.3sec.

In comparison, the Scenic – the least powerful of the trio, with 215bhp – seems relatively sluggish with a 0-60mph time of 8.6sec. However, we emphasise the word ‘relatively’ here, because the Scenic feels suitably punchy once it’s up and running, with the dash from 40-60mph (a speed range typical for country road overtakes) taking an altogether more reasonable 3.2sec, putting it just two-tenths behind the EV6 and 0.6sec behind the Model Y.

You won’t feel short-changed when it comes to performance, then, but don’t expect this sprightly  trio to feel like sports SUVs
on a twisty road. The Model Y, in particular, struggles when driven briskly, because while its ultra-quick steering provides sharp turn-in, it feels nervous and flighty through quick direction changes, with the tall body reacting to even the smallest steering inputs. And while most drivers will be able to adapt to this over time, it’s impossible to compensate for rear suspension that is easily unsettled by mid-corner bumps.

The Scenic, meanwhile, leans even more than the Model Y, but it doesn’t get thrown offline as badly by bumps, grips more evenly front to rear and benefits from well-weighted, accurate steering that allows you to place the front end exactly where you want it. Our only real complaint lies with an inconsistent brake pedal that sinks towards the floor before suddenly grabbing, almost as though you’ve flicked a light switch; this isn’t the case in the EV6 and Model Y.

The EV6 is the most agile of our contenders, with minimal body lean, a lovely balance and steering that’s both precise and well weighted. And this nimbleness doesn’t come at the expense of comfort, because while the EV6 does have a firm edge to its ride, body movements are well controlled and it settles down nicely at higher speeds – something that can’t be said for
the fractious Model Y.

The Scenic occasionally thumps over sharp-edged abrasions, but its softer set-up does a good job of keeping things smooth along motorways and fast A-roads.

It’s the quietest car here, too, with the least tyre and suspension noise at motorway speeds. There’s a small amount of both in the EV6, but the Model Y is by far the worst here, recording the highest decibel readings in our test at both 30mph and 70mph. Not only is there loads of suspension noise, but the parcel shelf in our test car rattled incessantly, no matter how many times we adjusted its fitment.

To rub salt in the Model Y’s wounds, it also has the shortest real-world range of the trio. On a test route that simulated motorway, country road and town driving (at our test track so that traffic conditions wouldn’t influence the results), the Model Y averaged an impressive 3.8 miles per kilowatt hour (kWh), but because it has a relatively small (57.5kWh usable capacity) battery, that translates to a theoretical range of only 220 miles. The EV6 and Scenic were less efficient (3.4 and 3.1 miles/kWh respectively), but they have usefully larger batteries; as a result, the EV6 (74kWh) can theoretically cover 252 miles and the Scenic (87kWh) an impressive 270 miles.

Next: What are they like inside? >>

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