Renault Clio E-TECH hybrid review

The Renault Clio E-Tech is part of a new wave of hybrid hatchbacks, which only a few years ago was a very niche part of the market. New tax rules and changing attitudes mean that electrified cars are being rapidly released and updated, and the Clio shows that this can only be a good thing. The latest versions of the Toyota Yaris and Honda Jazz arrived in 2020, and these are the Renault's main rivals at the moment.

Despite using the same E-Tech name as the larger Renault Captur SUV and Renault Megane estate hybrids, the Clio is not a plug-in hybrid. It uses a 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with two electric motors and a small 1.2kWh lithium-ion battery, which produce 138bhp. It's a similar set-up to the Toyota Yaris, and it works well in a small car. The Renault emits between 98 and 99g/km of CO2 and returns fuel economy of just over 64mpg, which are really appealing and are close to those of its rivals.

It uses a rather clever Formula 1-derived clutchless gearbox that's complex enough to have two ratios for the main electric motor and four for the petrol engine, with 15 operating modes in total including the pure-electric mode. It sounds complicated but unless you're a mechanic, it's not - you just press the right pedal to go and the left one to stop, like any normal automatic car.

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You can plug the Clio in the charge it, so the Clio's battery takes energy from regenerative braking and the car’s forward momentum to charge the battery. It then uses this to run on electric power for short distances, at speeds up to 40mph. Renault says the Clio hybrid can be in electric mode for up to 80% of the time over the course of a typical urban journey - but it's always going to need to have the engine come on at some point to keep the battery charged, or if you need to go on a faster road.

The Clio's interior is as good as ever, which is to say it's one of the best in any supermini. Plus, you get the same 300-litre boot capacity as a normal petrol Clio, despite the presence of the battery pack - it's located low down, under the floor so it doesn't intrude on interior space.

The great news is that the hybrid only costs about £500 more than an equivalent TCe 130 petrol automatic, and there's a good amount of choice as you can have the hybrid in Iconic, S Edition and R.S. Line trim levels.

So with that excellent real-world fuel economy, stylish exterior and interior, unchanged practicality and decent driving experience, the Clio E-TECH hybrid is definitely a very strong contender among the small but growing crop of electrified superminis. Keen drivers may prefer the more straightforward purely petrol engine, but there's no doubt the hybrid will win many fans.

For a more detail look at the Renault Clio E-TECH hybrid, read on for the rest of our in-depth review...