Tesla Model S vs Renault Clio
What's the difference?

Tesla Model S

—

2017 price

View pricing & specs

Renault Clio

$8,490 - $19,990

2018 price

View pricing & specs

Maserati Quattroporte

Mazda 2

Mazda 6

Mercedes-AMG E63

Mercedes-Benz A-Class

Mercedes-Benz A35

Mercedes-Benz A45

Mercedes-Benz AMG GT

Mercedes-Benz C-Class

Mercedes-Benz C43

Mercedes-Benz C63

Mercedes-Benz CLA

Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class

Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class

Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Mercedes-Benz E53

Mercedes-Benz EQ-Class

Mercedes-Benz EQS

Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Summary

2017 Tesla Model S

2018 Renault Clio

By Peter Anderson

Safety Rating

Electric motor type

Multi-Motor – Mixed Types

Turbo 4, 1.6L

Vehicle type

Battery Electric

Premium Unleaded Petrol

Electric range

613 km

5.9L/100km (combined)

Energy consumption

20.0 kWh/100km

Battery capacity

100.00 kWh

Seating

Likes

Rocketship speed
Clean interior design
Ever-improving proposition

Great chassis
Decent specification
Good all-round liveability for a hot hatch

Dislikes

Sadly, it's not a sports car
It's a lot of money
Lack of convenient charging

No AEB or rear curtain airbags
No CarPlay, Android Auto part of expensive option pack
RS Monitor no longer standard

2017 Tesla Model S Summary

If you have even a passing interest in the Tesla Model S, you'll have seen the endless internet videos where someone has lined up a Ferrari, Lamborghini, or another fast exotic car you could name, to race against it.

There's a long build-up, usually involving men who can't operate a baseball cap, a drag strip and idiotic words in the headline like "destroys" or "rips", or whatever. There's usually a bunch of honking bros with bad haircuts watching on, already planning their next viral video where they set a perfectly good mobile phone on fire.

It's facile and idiotic and doesn't give you any real clue as to the depth of whatever supercar it has "humiliated" or, just as importantly, the depth of the Model S and its spectacular engineering.

So, I won't be spending the next thousand words building up to the conclusion that the Model S P100D with Ludicrous Mode is up there with the world's fastest production cars from 0-100km/h, because I'll tell you now that it is, and it does it in a claimed 2.7 seconds.

Now that's out of the way, there's quite a bit more to the Model S than a "broken" Nissan GT-R owner weeping into their bento box.

View full pricing & specs

2018 Renault Clio Summary

I'm going to reveal something of myself here - I used to be a RenaultSport Clio owner. This is what the purists call what we now know as Clio RS, and I find myself constantly corrected yet unrepentant. It was a 172 - a nuggety three-door with wheels that looked too small, a weird seating position and a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated engine that was big on torque as long as you belted it.

It was a classic and you could still see the links back to the epoch-making Renault Clio Williams, that blue and gold Mk 1 Clio we never saw in Australia that redefined the genre. The current Clio has been around for four years now and I even drove this current RS Clio at its launch in 2013, memorable for the sudden bucketing rain that drenched the circuit and made things very interesting indeed.

This Clio was a big change from the cars that went before - slimmer-hipped, less aggressive-looking and with a 1.6-litre turbo engine, five-door-only body and (gasp!) no manual, just Renault's twin-clutch EDC transmission. It was a hit, at least with enthusiasts. Back then it was the dawn of a golden age in small hot hatches. But that was then, this is now. With a small power bump and a couple of features thrown in, is the ageing RS still at the pointy end?

View full pricing & specs

Deep dive comparison

2017 Tesla Model S 2018 Renault Clio

Verdict

I spoke to a friend who bought a Model S before one had even hit the ground here in Australia. He chuckled when I told him how much this car cost but then said something I'd already suspected. "My mates who own a P100D would never drop that kind of money on a normal car. Buying a Tesla is like buying shares in the company, you're buying into the future."

And that's kind of the point. A $300,000 Audi RS7 (fully-loaded, obviously) is a bit slower in a straight line, looks just as good, is extremely well-built and emits noises that make people like me go as weak at the knees (just as the Model S' acceleration does). And would probably win a 10 lap race with the Tesla around Mount Panorama.

The Tesla is the future of cars. It may still be decades before the internal combustion engine is gone, but Tesla buyers are getting the jump, and today the Model S is the best car in which to make that leap.

Verdict

The Clio RS is still a ton of fun and in Cup spec, probably the best compromise between price and livability. Despite its advancing years (it turns five this year, so ready to start kindy) and big brother Megane hogging the limelight with a fancy new model on the way, the Clio is a stayer. It's missing some frustratingly obvious things like CarPlay, AEB, rear airbags and rear cross-traffic alert, but it's hardly alone in the segment.

With the departure of the Fiesta ST, though, the Clio returns to the top of the list of best small hot hatches on sale today.

Tesla Model S vs Renault Clio What's the difference?

Summary

Deep dive comparison

Verdict

Verdict

Tesla Model S vs Renault Clio
What's the difference?