• Low CO2 and good fuel economy
• E-Tech works well around town
• TCe isn’t as far behind hybrid as you’d think

How much is it going to cost to run?

The Arkana is offered with a pair of small, efficient engines, with a petrol-electric hybrid E-Tech version, which can run on battery alone, and is perfectly suited for city dwellers.

MPG and CO2

Going off its CO2 and mpg figures, the E-Tech is a good compromise between more traditional petrol and diesel rivals. We returned 55mpg in testing, but this included a fair few motorway miles – expect it to be much better in and around town. It also compares well with the official MPG rating, below.

Petrol TCe 140: 48.7mpg, 130-132g/km CO2
Hybrid E-Tech 145: 58.9mpg, 108g-109/km CO2

With careful use, you should be able to do well in the mild-hybrid petrol TCe 140. Renault’s worked very hard on CO2 emissions, with its TCe 140 engine developing 140hp and 130-132g/km of CO2. That means more VED paid, but on the road, the difference between this, and the E-Tech isn’t that wide, especially on longer runs – expect 45-50mpg in day-to-day driving when driven sensibly.

Servicing and maintenance

Renault has more than 150 dealers and is still a big player on the market. Customer service has improved in recent years, but in the JD Power Vehicle Dependability Study, Renault scored a worse-than-average 122 faults per 100 cars compared with the industry average of 119.

Renault offers a selection of service plans that can be covered with a one-off payment or by topping up your monthly finance payment. These cover all servicing costs during the agreement, and take some of the unknowns out of the ownership experience. Three years of cover typically costs £499 or £9.99 per month, and four years comes in at £759.

How reliable is it?

• No recalls so far
• Early reliability signs are good
• Tried and tested mechanicals

We still don’t have any owners reviews for the Renault Arkana, but the firm’s performance with owners is improving. There have been no safety recalls so far, but we’ll continue to maintain the situation.

Remember that much of the technology in the Arkana is shared with the Clio and Captur, and the mild hybrid technology will appear in a variety of other models. The touchscreens are an evolution of what Renault’s been using for a few years, which aren’t completely trouble-free, but are decent on the whole.