2024 Renault Scenic review: At last — a fun electric car
In this spot last month I reviewed the new electric Peugeot 3008 and now, hot on its heels, comes its deadliest rival, domestic or otherwise. As regulars will be aware,…
I always said I’d start looking at buying an EV when I found one that would take me the 256 miles from home to Heathrow and back without recharging regardless of weather, traffic conditions or time of day. And the arrival of the BMW i7 to coincide with just such a journey seemed an ideal way to test it out. Until I looked at the flight ticket and realised I was flying out of Gatwick, adding a nice, neat 60 miles to the round trip. Over 300 miles on a charge? Not a chance, because you know as well as I that the gap that exists between what an EV manufacturer says a car will do and reality is more a yawning chasm.
Except it did it. I wasn’t even getting sweaty at the end. Yes, I kept to the speed limit and the weather was fine and dry, but I compromised my drive in no other way. In the meantime I discovered the first full-sized BMW I can recall preferring to its Mercedes-Benz equivalent. The EQS is prettier and has a more funky interior, but the i7 enjoys better perceived quality, is easier to use, no less quiet and finer riding too.
I do wish it didn’t look quite so dreadful but otherwise this is the most convincing large EV I’ve driven, a car that feels truly, extravagantly luxurious combined with a range that will spare you many rounds of motorway charging station roulette over its lifetime. Right now it is the best big EV saloon out there, and it’ll take quite something to topple it. AF
Price £111,500
Engine Front and rear electric motors, 105kWh battery
Power 536bhp
Torque 549lb ft
Weight 2640kg
Power to weight 203bhp per tonne
Transmission Single-speed, four-wheel drive
0-60mph 4.7sec
Top speed 149mph
Range 385 miles (WLTP)
Verdict Looks aside, it’s a winner.
In this spot last month I reviewed the new electric Peugeot 3008 and now, hot on its heels, comes its deadliest rival, domestic or otherwise. As regulars will be aware,…
If you look at the Land Rover LRX concept from 2008 and this Range Rover Evoque, you’ll be left in no doubt what a debt the latter owes the former.…
Back in 2011 Rolls-Royce announced that it had made an electric car. Just one, mind, to canvass the views of current and prospective customers and those of a small number…
I’m always quite nervous when it comes writing about industry stories, largely because I think they are of far greater interest to nosey hacks like me who know some of…
Five years ago, missing the Geneva Motor Show was virtually unthinkable for any major car manufacturer. This year’s list of exhibitors is embarrassingly full of largely unknown brands. Andrew Frankel looks behind the staggering demise
Searching for the pinnacle of motor car production, Andrew Frankel winds the clock back 14 years to ‘peak car’. We just didn’t know this was as good as it was ever going to get
The electric revolution is set to continue in 2024, with a new MG roadster, Porsche’s battery-powered Macan, and Renault’s fun-focused 5. But the combustion engine will continue roaring too, says Andrew Frankel, thanks to supercar makers and a rare BMW M5 Touring
It was a year dominated by new electric car launches — too many of which were lacklustre. But among the cars that over-promised and underdelivered, Andrew Frankel found some gems — both battery- and petrol-powered
This is the most important new Volvo in years. Decades possibly. At least to Volvo. The EX30 is Volvo’s first crack at the compact crossover EV market, a sector that…
The car industry is ploughing billions of pounds into electric cars but sales declined among private buyers in September. Andrew Frankel puts his finger on the problem
Remember Jaguar? Time was when it was the pride of the nation, and even in more recent times it’s made some fine cars among a few frankly undeniable clunkers. When…
I try hard, as hard as I can, not to pre-judge cars. Let them stand or fall on their own merits rather than your preconceptions of how they’re likely to…