Kia Soul EV vs Renault Megane (2022-2024)

The Kia Soul EV costs £1,300 more than the Renault Megane. On the headline specs that premium buys little measurable advantage - the two are closely matched on range, charging and space. The Renault Megane is not just cheaper - it also offers 30 kW faster peak rapid charging and 125 litres more boot space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Renault Megane comes out ahead overall.

The Renault Megane is £1,300 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £160 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Renault Megane comes out roughly £1,220 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 234 miles for the Kia Soul EV and 193 miles for the Renault Megane - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Kia Soul EV goes roughly 41 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 47 minutes in the Kia Soul EV and 32 in the Renault Megane, so the Renault Megane loses less time at each stop. So the Kia Soul EV stops less often while the Renault Megane stops for less time - pick on which you would rather do.

The Renault Megane is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 32 mm narrower than the Kia Soul EV. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 632 mm of total clearance for the Renault Megane and about 600 mm of total clearance for the Kia Soul EV.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the Kia Soul EV and 84% for the Renault Megane. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation. The Renault Megane has the longer battery warranty at 8 years, versus 7 for the Kia Soul EV.