Renault Trafic Review 2025: Price, specs & load capacity

If you're after a well-priced van and aren't worried about having the latest and greatest on-board tech, while also not being worried about outright capacity in terms of weight, quite possibly. The Trafic is still competitive enough with fresher rivals like the Ford Transit Custom in most ways, with the key difference being that Renault offers substantial discounts, which make it much easier to overlook its more dated aspects. 

Which of the three body styles you opt for will depend on your business needs. None of the 2.0-litre engines available is lacking in torque, so there's something to be said for simply going for the cheapest one, which is the 130. It's only available with a manual gearbox, though – if you want a manual, it'll need to be either the 150 or the 170.

Sticking with the 130 then gives the option of two different trim levels – Advance or Extra. Picking between the two will depend on the luxuries you're after, but what you're getting in return for a fairly small premium on the Extra seems worth it. 

Whether you ignore the diesel and opt for the electric will, again, depend on the intended use of the vehicle, and/or if you're purchasing for a business fleet with the intention of lowering a company's overall emissions levels. Should that be the direction you go in, your life is made much easier in the configurator, with only one electric powertrain available, which in turn can only be specced in Advance trim. 

If you're looking at new vehicles, the Nissan Primastar is as similar as it gets, because it's essentially the same van but with some very light styling changes. It was the same case for the older Nissan NV300, the Fiat Talento and the previous-generation versions of the Vauxhall Vivaro. 

After the creation of the huge Stellantis group of brands a few years ago, the Vivaro became a badge-engineered version of the Citroen Dispatch, which is also used as a base for the Fiat Scudo, the replacement for the Talento. 

All of these can be considered rivals to the Trafic, as can the Ford Transit Custom and its close relative, the T7 Volkswagen Transporter. 

A van interior needs to be hard-wearing above all else, so it's inevitable that much of the Trafic's cabin places a bigger emphasis on being hardy rather than plush. That being said, there are some surprise premium touches, including a large piece of dashboard trim which Renault describes as having a "horizontal grain and chrome detailing". It wouldn't look out of place in one of Renault's now quite swanky passenger cars. 

Most importantly, everything seems to be screwed together properly, with no obvious build quality issues that we noticed in our time with the van.

The range-topping Media Nav Evolution gets full Android Auto and Apple CarPlay compatibility, while the cheaper R-Link is limited to Android Auto only. Neither system is a match for the tech used by Ford and Volkswagen, however, with the blocky graphics and slow screen changes making maps difficult to read when on the move.  

When we spent a week with a Trafic E-Tech, we had issues with the DAB radio signal, with the van taking some time to actually find it after first starting up. It switching back to FM whenever restarted was a pain, too. 

Another infotainment grumble concerns the USB ports. They're at the far end of a storage tray on top of a dashboard, so they aren't the easiest to access. You do get additional ports on the upgraded infotainment system, which is standard on the Extra-trimmed Trafic but a £400 option on the Advance. There's also a wireless charging pad available for £120. 

You'll be able to carry three Euro pallets even with the smallest SL30 model. Thanks to load-through hatches it's possible to take items from 3,750 to 4,150mm long, depending on which length of Trafic you've chosen. Behind the bulkhead, the SL30 can take up to 2,537mm, while for the LL30 and LH30 it's 2,937mm.

Loading can be done either via a sliding side door or asymmetrical rear doors. The thinking behind the latter is that the smaller door with the number plate can be locked in place, allowing for the wider one to be open for well-secured oversized loads to extend out of the rear. 

The total payload weights range from just over 1,000 to just under 1,300, depending on which size of Trafic you pick and which engine powers it. That's a fair way behind the Trafic's Stellantis-built rivals, including the Fiat Scudo and Vauxhall Vivaro, which can haul a few hundred kilos more, although none quite match the Trafic's load length capability.

Previously available with 1.6 and 2.0-litre diesel engines, the Trafic now only comes with a line-up of 2.0-litre units comprising the Blue dCI 130, 150 and 170. Each name corresponds to the output in PS, while the torque figures for each are 300, 350 and 380Nm respectively. The 130 only comes with a six-speed manual gearbox, the 150 can be specced with either a manual or a nine-speed automatic, and the 170 is exclusively auto. 

The old 1.6 dCi engines were never particularly bad, but only the twin-turbocharged versions ever truly felt up to the task of heavy-duty work. In comparison, the new 2.0 dCi feels more than a match, with only half the turbo power. 

The Trafic E-Tech just has the one available powertrain, combining a 52kWh battery pack with a front-mounted motor producing 120PS and 245Nm of torque. This makes it the least potent of all Trafics, but the near-instantly delivered nature of the torque means the E-Tech feels plenty brisk off the line. Most importantly, it's easy and relaxing to drive thanks to the smooth, quiet nature of its electric propulsion.

Beyond that initial pep off the line, the E-Tech does start to feel a bit more sluggish, especially compared to some versions of the Ford E-Transit Custom (which you can spec with an amusingly fast 282PS powertrain), but it's doubtful Trafic drivers will be crying out for more go. 

One frustration of the E-Tech is it's limited to 68mph. So if you're overtaking someone on the motorway at that speed who decides to speed up every so slightly, there's not a great deal you can do about it. 

The Trafic E-Tech has a range of up to 186 miles according to the WLTP Combined cycle. We averaged 2.7 miles per kWh during our week-long test of the van, which would give you a range on a full charge of more like 140 miles. We mostly drove the car on dual carriageways and motorways, however, which typically doesn't help EV efficiency. A greater bias towards urban driving should get you close to the claimed figure.

No one buys a van and expects it to be as quiet as a Rolls-Royce, but it is worth noting there are vans that are better in terms of wind and road noise than the Trafic. The new Ford Transit Connect and its Volkswagen Transporter T7 cousin, for example. It's not bad, though, and the all-electric E-Trafic makes for a relaxing experience with its quiet powertrain. You get a faint whirr, and that's about it. 

The Renault Trafic is rated four stars out of five by safety body Euro NCAP. That's the same score awarded to the Citroen Dispatch and related Stellantis group vans, but behind the five-star rated Ford Transit Custom and Volkswagen Transporter, which are essentially the same thing. 

Showing its age, the Trafic has hydraulic power steering, meaning it's not possible for it to have lane-keeping assistance. It does have lane departure warning, speed limit detection and automatic emergency braking, though, with a blind-spot warning available optionally.

A 50kW rapid charging capability is a bit disappointing when a Vauxhall Vivaro Electric manages 100kW, and a Ford E-Transit Custom can do up to 125kW. It means it'll take an agonising 50 minutes to take the battery from 15-80%, according to Renault, and you might find it takes a bit longer while faffing around with the button to release the charge cable. It's on the driver's side of the cabin, the opposite side of the charging port. 

That might sound like we're nitpicking, but it's a needless bit of extra hassle when the norm is for EVs to allow for the cable to be released simply by pressing the unlock button on the key fob.

Taking the Trafic E-Tech from 0-100% will take eight hours via a home wallbox, while doing the same from a domestic plug socket will be 32 hours. It's generally not recommended to do so, as along with the agonising charging times, this also might not be good for your home electrical system. 

Either way, based on the average cost of electricity in the UK currently, it'll cost you around £12-13 to fully charge the battery at home, and several times that figure if charging at a public station. If you'll be frequently charging at home, it's worth looking into a variable tariff which is cheaper at certain times of day, particularly overnight, and timing your top-ups to suit. 

Our usual go-to source for reliability data is the Satisfaction Index, our sister site HonestJohn.co.uk's annual ownership survey. It doesn't cover vans, though, so the best we can do is look at how Renault does as a brand to get some idea. On that front, it placed an unspectacular 24th out of 33 manufacturers for reliability, although a lot of its van-making competitors including Ford and every single Stellantis-owned brand (Citroen, Peugeot etc) fared worse.

Renault's three-year warranty length is pretty standard, but the brand does something a little different for mileage, covering you for unlimited mileage in the first two years, and up to 100,000 miles in the third year. The high voltage batteries in E-Tech models have a separate warranty lasting eight years and 100,000 miles. 

While taking away the vehicle excise duty (VED) exemption for electric cars in April 2025, the government did the same for electric vans weighing under 3,500kg. That means you'll need to pay the same £345 yearly sum whether you've bought the diesel Trafic or the electric E-Trafic. 

The Trafic is currently offered in three trim grades – Advance, Extra and Extra Sport. Other decisions you make in the configurator, including engine and body type and will restrict your choice, though. Some, for instance, are only available in the base Advance grade or in the top Extra Sport trim. The E-Tech is only available in Advance. 

Advance includes a rear parking camera, manual conditioning, LED headlights, a reversing camera, deadlocks, cruise control and a load-through bulkhead. Extra adds 17-inch alloy wheels, an upgraded 'Easy Link' eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system with navigation, a synthetic leather steering wheel and body-coloured bumpers. Extra Sport switches to a different set of 17-inch alloy wheels and adds climate control and 360-degree parking sensors.