Renault launches Grand Kangoo MPV and van
Renault has launched a seven-seater version of the Kangoo. Named the Renault Grand Kangoo, it will be available in MPV and van guise. The vehicles come with internal combustion engines and there is also an all-electric derivative. The new vehicle was unveiled to the world during the IAA Mobility in Munich – and we jetted there for the launch.
Successful legacy
The Kangoo has been massively successful; Renault has sold over 4.4 million of these vehicles in 50 countries around the world – including in South Africa. Now in its third generation, which was first launched internationally in 2021, the vehicle continues to impress with its next-level practicality and its first-ever sliding side door (which really is very handy indeed).
More space than ever before
The all-new Grand Kangoo comes with masses of space to transport people and/or goods.
If it’s people you’re transporting, they can be accommodated in three proper seats in the second row and two in the third, meaning seven adults can be seated comfortably.
The Grand Kangoo offers a best-in-class knee radius for passengers in row three (164 mm), and this really does make for a comfortable journey. We hopped in the back row and – unlike so many other vehicles with three rows of seats – it can actually accommodate normal adults. Yours truly is 1.7 metres tall – and a long trip in the third row would not deter me.
The seats can be rearranged almost ad infinitum; there are an incredible 1,024 seating configurations.
Storage space is good, too; there is more than 58 litres of accessible storage space, including the Easy Life sliding drawer and under-floor storage trays in row two. The 500-litre boot of is extendable to 3,750 litres with the rear seats removed and the front passenger seat folded down. Furthermore, the Kangoo (in people carrier guise) has a 3.11-metre loading length with the front passenger seat folded down.
The two wide 83 cm sliding doors (18 cm more than the regular Kangoo) are utterly fabulous. They make it ever so easy to load goods and people in confined spaces.
Various engine options
The Grand Kangoo comes with petrol or diesel internal combustion engines, and it is also available in all-electric guise. There’s a 130 hp petrol or 95 hp diesel motor on offer while the Grand Kangoo E-Tech Electric is powered by a 90 kW motor with 245 Nm of instantly available torque, so it is said to drive smoothly in all situations (we were not able to test drive the vehicle during the IAA Mobility). You can switch the driving mode to Eco, which limits power to 56 kW and caps the vehicle’s speed at 110 km/h to optimise the range.
The all-new Grand Kangoo E-Tech’s 45 kWh (fully usable) lithium-ion battery has eight independent and easily repairable modules, and gives the motor up to 265 km of WLTP range – which is plenty for most everyday drives.
If you stop for 10 minutes at an 80kW DC charging point, you can recover 80km of range. Speaking of charging, the Grand Kangoo E-Tech electric comes with two types of chargers. There’s the 22 kW AC fast charger to top up the battery from 15% to 80% in 2 hours and 40 minutes. Plus, there’s a 22 kW AC – DC 80 kW charger (standard), which adds 170 km of range in 27 minutes. The batteries are guaranteed for eight years or 160,000 km.
Three braking modes up for grabs
There are three regenerative braking modes up for grabs. Firstly, there is “Sailing” – which provides limited regeneration, and works best on free-flowing motorways and expressways. Next up is “Drive” – the default regeneration mode, for a variety of situations (the response when you lift your foot off the brake pedal is similar to that in an ICE vehicle). Finally, there is the “Brake” mode for maximum regeneration, which works best in traffic jams and on mountain roads. Based on previous driving experience, the “Brake” mode sometimes takes a while to get used to – but professional drivers will get the hang of it in no time.
The conventional hydraulic braking system is coupled with an ARBS (Adaptative Regenerative Brake System) that maximises energy recovery.
Fab app
In Europe, customers can use the fabulous MyRenault smartphone app to do a bundle of things – from scheduling battery charging and remote battery status monitoring to scheduling passenger compartment pre-heating or pre-cooling. It also helps drivers to locate charging stations and it tells you which destinations you can reach with your remaining battery charge (which is super handy).
Deliveries of the Grand Kangoo kick off early next year. The launch date in South Africa is presently under discussion.
