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New Renault Megane E-Tech vs used Kia EV6 costs
With a saving of around £14,000 off new, a year-old Kia EV6 looks like great value, but are you better off spending even less on a box-fresh Renault Megane E-Tech?...
Buying and owning
Costs, equipment, reliability, safety and security
A new Renault Megane E-Tech (in our test car's entry-level Equilibre trim) has a list price of £34,495, but that drops to £32,133 if you factor in our Target Price discount. The Kia EV6 (in our test car's RWD GT-Line form) began life as a £48,190 new car but has since gone to £34,000 as a year-old used one.
While that speed and level of depreciation is harsh, our data suggests the worst is over, with the next three years seeing a further £10,875 of the EV6's current value lost. As for the Megane E-Tech, it's set to lose £17,870 of its current value over the same time period.
When fast charging at their peak rates, you'll see a 10-80% charge in 18min with the EV6 and 30min with the E-Tech. Using a 7kW home charger, the EV6 can charge from 0-100% in 12hr 30min, while the E-Tech will complete a full charge in 9hr 45min.
The EV6 will be pricier to insure, with its insurance group of 34 putting the cost at around £835. The Megane E-Tech, in group 26, should set you back around £719.
For a major service of the E-Tech, that'll be £130 via Renault. We were quoted two services of the EV6 by Kia, and that came in at £459. The EV6 comes with a seven-year (100,000-mile) warranty that covers most components, including the drive battery, so you'll have around two years left of that. Renault provides a three-year warranty, with unlimited mileage for the first 24 months and a cap of 100,000 miles after that.
Both of these cars are well equipped and get LED headlights, heated front seats and a heated steering wheel. The EV6 has some luxuries absent from the Megane, though, such as adaptive cruise control (the E-Tech has non-adaptive cruise control) and electrically adjustable front seats.
In our 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey, the EV6 wasn't one of our star performers, placing 17th out of 20 manufacturers featured. Its reliability rating of 83.4% puts it above the MG4 EV but below the Tesla Model Y. Slow and sometimes costly repairs dragged the score down, with 12-volt battery, motor and other electrical systems to blame.
It's still early days for the Megane E-Tech, so it didn't appear in our latest survey. However, the feedback we've heard indicates that the Megane E-Tech's reliability is generally positive, with a low incidence of serious issues reported. Specifically, the electric battery and motor were highlighted as reliable, with no major faults affecting the driving experience or vehicle functionality.
During safety testing conducted by the independent experts at Euro NCAP, both cars received the maximum five-star rating.
Alternatives
New rivals, used rivals
A new Cupra Born is a couple of grand more expensive to buy than the Megane E-Tech, but it's better to drive, with superior grip and steering. The official range (of the entry-level battery) isn't quite as good as the E-Tech's, but it's still commendable at 264 miles.
One of the EV6's biggest competitors is the closely related Hyundai Ioniq 5, which is competitive when it comes to practicality, range and pricing: in fact, you can pick a used one up for a little less money. However, it doesn't strike quite such a good balance between ride comfort and body control – suspension revisions, made in 2022, vastly improved the driving experience, mind you.
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