With an electric hot hatch based on the Renault 5, the Alpine A290 is expected to launch the French company's entry into the mainstream market the following year.
It is a more practical complement to the highly praised, but incredibly impractical, A110, as seen here in "Beta" concept form, without sacrificing its sporting nature.
The production car will use the same CMF-BEV platform as the 5 despite the A290 Beta having two motors mounted on the front axle and a racing chassis approved by the FIA. The architecture, which places the battery pack underneath the vehicle to reduce center of mass and enhance handling, has already been praised by Renault for its dynamic potential. Additionally, it has independent multi-link suspension at the back.
Alpine has made additional adjustments to the platform to make it more stable when accelerating and enjoyable at lower speeds. The key component, according to design director Antony Villain, is agility. "And we are aware that switching to electric vehicles has resulted in heavier batteries, but we still want to drive with agility and pure enjoyment."
In order to achieve this, Alpine upgraded the suspension system of the Renault 5 with hydraulic bump-stops, which improved the ride quality and handling adjustability of the A290. Similar to this, the single front motor of the production car's torque vectoring system is configured to imitate a mechanical differential, increasing traction when accelerating out of a corner and stability when braking.
The A290 is naturally stable and nimble because of its short wheelbase and wide track; the entire vehicle is 4.05 meters long and 1.85 meters wide, according to product manager Charlie Biardeau.
He went on to say that the A290's four-piston brakes are the same as those of the A110, but they have been adjusted to work in harmony with the single front motor of the production car's regeneration.
According to Biardeau, Alpine wants to create a sense of "transparency" with different levels of regeneration on the brake pedal. One of these might be a "one-pedal" drive mode, which maximizes the motor braking and allows you to only use the accelerator pedal to move the vehicle—a useful feature in city traffic jams.
Because of its battery, the A290 will weigh a lot more than the A110 (up to 1100 kg, depending on specifications). Alpine's legacy is agility and a unique ride, Biardeau continued, adding that the brand is "finding a new balance for today's technology." It may come from the weight, but it may also come from other features. Moreover, EVs give you a lot more torque. It implies that sometimes [agility] isn't in the numbers but rather in the sensation you experience—it's a shifting weight.
"In an ICE hot hatch, you will typically have all of the weight on the front," he continued. When you shift your weight to the back, your rear will be more stable during braking, allowing you to adjust the suspension and other components in different ways.
Bonetto, the head of engineering, told Autocar that power will be divided into two categories. As previously mentioned, one will be a condensed form of the 215 horsepower Renault Mégane E-Tech Electric engine. The other, which has not yet been formally revealed, is anticipated to be the 268 horsepower engine that Renault, Valeo, and Valeo-Siemens developed and is scheduled to go into production in 2027. According to Bonetto, every power output is designed to deliver "a good level of performance" without being "brutal."
There will only be one battery available, and it should be approximately equal to the 52kWh capacity and 238 miles of official range of the Renault Zoe. The French company had previously declared that its new generation pack, which is divided into four "big modules," is lighter by 15 kg and has a higher density than the Zoe unit.
Joshua Reer, the interior designer, says that the production A290's interior will resemble the show car "1%." More than anything, the three-seat cockpit—which puts the driver front and center—is a declaration of intent for Alpine's upcoming interior designs.
This interior is all about minimalism, with traditional button controls mounted to the roof and steering wheel in place of touchscreens. Two important pieces of information are displayed on a small head-up display that sits above the steering wheel: speed and range. According to Reer, "I think the interior has to drive home the point about what it means to sit inside an Alpine."
The "OV" button, which activates a 10-second power boost and is modeled after Formula 1, he continued, is the only feature that is probably going to make it into the four-seat production car. Although Bonetto stated that "it's significant, you can really feel it," Alpine has not yet disclosed the extent of this uplift. The button has a brief cooldown in between bursts, but Biardeau said that this is still being adjusted.
The connection to Formula 1 goes even further because the Enstone-based Alpine Racing Formula 1 team contributed to the development of the A290's aerodynamics. In order to reduce drag, air is channeled across the car's flanks through gaps in the front bumper, high on the rear quarter panel, and beneath the X-shaped headlights, which were themselves inspired by the tape used on vintage rally cars.
The unique blue-flecked carbon fiber bodykit (which is probably going to be plastic on the production model) and the two faux-exhausts that are integrated into the rear splitter are two more stylish touches. But these aren't really meant to look like exhausts; rather, they're meant to look like the fans found on powerful gaming computers. Villain claims that this is a behind-the-scenes joke between Luca de Meo, the head of Renault and Alpine, and that it supports the company's goal of selling vehicles to the "gaming generation."
In 2024, the A290—which is based on the Renault 5—will probably be released alongside the latter in Europe and Japan. Although the Zoe (which starts at £29,995) is priced higher, the A290 is anticipated to cost significantly more due to the extensive chassis modifications and premium branding. Price starts should be around £40,000, which is more than the competing Abarth 500e and Cupra Born.
Subsequent models will adopt the A290's naming scheme, wherein '2' signifies the model's name and '90' indicates that it is not designed to be a strictly sporting model. The A110 is the only current model to carry the '10' badge; only a limited number of future models will.