Renault Rafale E-Tech Hybrid: Someone has thought about this
The Ionic Esprit Alpine 200HP
As far back as I can remember, I've always had a slight obsession with anything that combines good design and ergonomics. From living room furniture to public transport, I love it when I see, feel or experience a product that has clearly had some serious thought put into the design.
These days, thanks to the abundance of computer-aided design and AI software, it can be relatively easy to make almost anything look attractive. However, to make that something look pretty and be practical for day-to-day use, a person (an actual human) is still very much required to make it work.
Renault's New Flagship Car
For the past week, I've been driving Renault's new flagship family car, the Rafale. The Rafale sits at the top of the pile of Renaut's latest lineup of cars, all of which boast bold new designs and exciting new names that will cause autocorrect and spell check to have a bit of a fit when writing about them.
Whilst a large family car with a small engine isn't my typical forte of motoring journalism, I have to hold up my hands and admit that I've enjoyed my time with the Rafale because it has, clearly, had some very clever people behind its design and ergonomics.
Clever Design
The Rafale has some very intuitive design features inside and out, and thanks to a clever pairing of a 1.2L petrol engine and a 1.7kWh battery, the new car can drive nearly 700 miles on a single tank of petrol. Beyond the smart lines and superb economy, though, there is much more to the Rafale than initially meets the eye. The Rafale is designed for families, and my week with the car has featured multiple joyous audible exclamations of 'Huh, that's a good idea' and 'Oh, someone has thought about this!'.
Prices and options
The Rafale is available in three different versions. Before any optional extras are ticked, the entry-level trim, 'Techno', has a retail price of £38,195. The second tier, 'Techno Esprit Alpine', has a retail price of £42,195, and the top-spec, 'Iconic Esprit Alpine' (as tested), retails at £44,695. Each tier provides a baseline for standard equipment, but the stand-out features for the top-level Iconic Esprit Alpine are 20-inch black diamond cut wheels, Alcantara seats with illuminated Alpine logos, a Harmon Kardon sound system, 360-degree cameras and hand-free parking.
Interior Space and Comfort
The Rafale is a big car at 4.7m long and 1.6m wide. Renault is calling it a Coupe-SUV, and whilst it doesn't look typically SUV-shaped from the outside, it's very much SUV-proportioned on the inside. This means the car's rear half is spacious enough to accommodate everyone from fully grown adults to growing toddlers in ISOFIX seats (swinging legs and all!).
The Ideal Family car
In the central armrest that folds out between both rear passenger seats are two mobile phone holders, explicitly designed to support a phone or tablet, which is perfect for keeping attention spans occupied on long drives without the need to install aftermarket phone or tablet holding brackets on the back of the driver or passenger seats - that's clever. There are also 4 USB-C charging points within reach of the back seats, two behind the front armrest and two more inside the rear armrest.
Up front, the family-focused theme continues with features like a convex mirror built into the sunglasses holder within the ceiling of the car - ideal for quick glances to the rear seat without the requirement to turn any heads away from the road.
Storage is also plentiful, with large door pockets on all four doors, a generously sized glovebox, multiple storage boxes in the centre console, two cupholders, and a wireless charging panel for a mobile phone.
The boot space is also vast, with 647 litres of storage space comfortably swallowing everything from prams to the annual family holiday luggage. With the rear seats folded flat, the storage space jumps to a very impressive 1,700 litres. Being a Coupe-SUV, the boot entry point is lower than many taller SUVs, making it ideal for easily loading more awkward items. The boot floor hides some storage space below the floor, which is ideal for items you might want to avoid rolling around mid-corner, such as the weekly shop.
AI Tech and Google Assistant as standard
Another area where Renault has thought about the people who might be using the new Rafale is in the tech department. For things like navigation and purpose-built mobile apps to control the car, Renault has realised that most drivers are likely to bypass any built-in navigation systems and opt instead for smartphone-integrated programs like CarPlay. While Apple CarPlay and Android Auto do come as standard, the Rafale uses Google Maps as its in-built navigation system, which synchronises with Google Assistant to control other aspects of the car. This allows the interface to be comparable to that of a smartphone. With time, the system will learn and recognise regular routes and commutes and help drivers plan journey times according to live traffic updates and diversions.
Driver Assistance and Convenience Features
In the top-tier trim 'Iconic Esprit Alpine', plenty of other helpful technology keeps drivers safe and focused, including adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go assistance for start-stop traffic. Other useful safety features like blind spot warnings are displayed on both wing mirrors to help with lane changes, and a 360-degree camera with a bird's eye view makes tight manoeuvres and parking a breeze.
Driver Luxuries and additional technology
The Rafale is a very comfortable car thanks to some luxurious heated sports seats. The driver's seat also boasts a massage function with a few optional routines to enjoy. The screen layout for both the instrument cluster and the central infotainment screen is pleasantly laid out, with an intuitive process that allows quick changes to themes, navigation input, and driver modes - (that's if you're not asking Google Assistant to do it for you). Overhead all occupants is a clever panoramic glass roof, which can be switched from frosted to clear incrementally with a switch. This feature is one of the least necessary bits of tech, but it makes for a good party trick and will impress the kids.
Driving Review
It probably comes as no surprise that a large family SUV with a 1.2L petrol hybrid powertrain isn't exactly what many would classify as quick, but that's okay; it's not supposed to be. That said, the Rafale has had some dynamism injected into the chassis and steering and has been equipped with a clever rear-wheel-steer system, which aids tight manoeuvres at slow speeds and cornering stability up to 30mph. The compromise to the 'added dynamism' in the suspension is that the ride is a tad firm for a family car, I may argue unnecessarily so. Once fully loaded with people and luggage, the car is nicely dampened down; however, for the times that it was just me in the car alone, there were a few occasions where I felt the car to be a little over sprung, resulting in me bouncing in the seat on especially bumpy roads. The overall power output for the Rafale is 201bhp; however, as is the norm with hybrid powertrains that combine petrol and electric powertrains, the output feels slightly more responsive than a 200 hp petrol-only equivalent.
Powertrain and Hybrid Balance
Despite being a petrol hybrid, the model has no electric-only driving range, nor is there a plug-in aspect to charge the 1.7kWh battery. The battery is charged by both the petrol engine and through regenerative capture and braking. At low speeds, such as start-stop traffic, the Rafale will use battery power exclusively until the battery level is low or the driving pace is increased - at which point the 1.2L petrol engine quietly fires into life and takes things from there.
Later in 2025, a 300hp plug-in Hybrid version of the Rafale will arrive, which may fulfil the desire for more power, but honestly, the 200bhp version is excellent and, for almost everyone, will provide all the power you need.
My Conclusion
The Rafale is more than just another C-segment family SUV in a very competitive market; it's a strong statement piece from Renault with a nod towards what will come in the next few years for the brand. Renault has enjoyed a surge of new buyers in recent years, and the brand is doing an excellent at being noticed.
What I like most about the Rafale is that a team of designers and engineers have clearly thought about what they're making and who they're making the car for. On top of being a very good family car, it's an excellent fusion of design and ergonomics; for that, it deserves praise indeed.
words by John Marcar
photographs by Henry Faulkner-Smith
