► A290β is first look at Alpine EV hatch
► Based off forthcoming Renault 5 EV
► Production car will launch in 2024
This is the A290β: our first look at an electric Alpine hot hatchback. The A290β is a show car that previews the EV’s design, ahead of the production version launching in 2024.
Alpine has been working on a new range of pure-electric cars, and it’s no secret that a hot hatchback based off the forthcoming Renault 5 is part of that mix. Elsewhere, Alpine has already confirmed there will be a crossover SUV on the way, as well as an all-electric replacement for the A110.
The new electric hot hatch is the start of Alpine’s all-electric future, and it’s a pretty tasty place to start. ‘When it was first discussed, the immediate feeling was to do a real hot hatch,’ Antony Villain, Alpine’s head of design, tells CAR. ‘I think that’s something that’s missing right now, and something that French manufacturers are really good at. I think that’s the mindset we had like in our history: taking some great cars with a Renault background and really raising them as an Alpine with all of the know-how from our team today.’
A290β? That’s a weird name…
True, but there is logic to it. As well as revealing the show car, Alpine has confirmed its future nomenclature for all of its new models. Every car will start with an A followed by three numbers – that much we already know.
This new structure gets interesting with those three digits, though. The first number dictates the size of the vehicle, then the second two digits – either 10 or 90 – dictate whether the vehicle is a sports car or a ‘lifestyle’ car respectively.
The ‘β’ in the show car’s name stands for ‘beta test,’ linking the digital world and confirming that this is an early look at the production name: A290. The Alpine team want to make sure people know that this isn’t just some flight of fancy; Villain tells CAR the exterior is ‘pretty close’ to the production car that will arrive in 2024.
It definitely looks racy!
It’s clear there’s plenty of links to the Renault 5 EV due very soon, but Villain is keen to make sure it’s still recognisable as an Alpine. ‘It’s all about playing with those Alpine ingredients that have always been there; the four lamps, the wheels, the side sculptures – all of it is reminiscent of the 80s – and the way we create this Alpine identity,’ says Villain.
Given it’s a show car, Alpine has gone to town on the details and used some extreme materials. Carbonfibre is used liberally, with a blue-tinged forged carbon marked in the sills and lower valances. The massive concept car-spec wheels feature a design inspired by the A110 Légende, and there are functional air ducts in the C-pillars.
What about the interior?
This is where Alpine’s had some fun. While the exterior is meant to be almost what the production car will look like, Villain and his design team have let their hair down with the cockpit.
It’s a three-seater, with a central drivers seat and a Formula 1-inspired steering wheel. It’s clean and minimalist inside, with as many of the controls housed on that radical looking steering wheel, and the cocooning space is trimmed with machined metals bars of light accenting the sharp angles of the dashboard.
Villain says that motorsport link is deliberate, connecting the A290b to Alpine’s F1 team and shedding light on the fact that all of Alpine’s divisions (production cars and motorsports) are under one roof, unlike the supposedly disparate departments of the now-defunct RenaultSport. And, just to ram the point home, Villain points out that the production car’s steering wheel will benefit from the same ‘boost’ button the concept car features, marked with ‘OV’ for ‘overtake.’
What’ll power the production-spec Alpine A290?
Alpine’s kept powertrain details close to its chest for now, but we can predict some details.
CAR’s intel suggests that, as well as the new A290 running on Renault’s new CMF-BEV platform, the A290 is likely to feature more potent motors lifted from the Megane E-Tech and Nissan Ariya. Renault VP for engineering, Gilles Le Borgne, told CAR in 2022 that: ‘To build in the performance, I can put in the motor from the CMF-EV platform [which underpins the Megane E-Tech and Nissan Ariya]. That’s 160kW (215bhp), with a dedicated layout.’
As for battery size, the circa-52kWh pack is likely to stay the same size then Alpine takes advantage of Renault’s battery technology. ‘The [Alpine] battery will be almost the same [as the base Renault’s] but I have to increase the current, for performance, so it will be very similar but not identical,’ Le Borgne said, ‘Of course, this will have some compromise on range but that’s life!’
However, the A290β teases some potential performance upgrades beyond some more potent motors than the R5. Alpine says the show car features revised suspension and more potent brakes with four-piston Brembo calipers from the A110 applied. The ABS features 11 settings (for some reason) and there are three drive modes: Wet, Dry and Full.
When will the real Alpine A290 launch?
Alpine’s new battery-electric hot hatchback will launch in 2024.