That car is planned to be priced below the Zoe (currently starting at £29,995) but – given the extent of the chassis tweaks and positioning under a premium brand – the A290 is expected to come at a significant premium. The A290 will go on sale in Europe and Japan in 2024, likely releasing alongside the Renault 5 on which it is based. According to Villain, this is a private joke between Alpine and Renault head honcho Luca de Meo himself, and feeds into the brand’s ambition to sell cars to the ‘gaming generation’. However, these are not actually intended to present as exhausts they are instead meant to resemble the fans used on high-powered gaming computers. Other styling flourishes include the distinctive blue-flecked carbonfibre bodykit (likely to become plastic on the production model) and the dual faux-exhausts integrated into the rear splitter. The gaps positioned underneath the X-shaped headlights – themselves inspired by the tape used on rally cars of yore – in the front bumper, and high on the rear quarter panel all channel air across the car’s flanks to reduce drag. The Formula 1 link does not end there, for the Alpine Racing Formula 1 team, based in Enstone, had a role in shaping the A290’s aerodynamics. Biardeau added that the button has a short cooldown period between bursts, but that this is still being tuned. Alpine is yet to detail the scale of this uplift, but Bonetto said “it’s significant, you can really feel it”.
He added that the only feature likely to translate to the four-seat production car is the Formula 1-inspired ‘OV’ button, which enables a 10-second power boost. “I think the interior has to bring the point home about what it means to sit inside an Alpine,” said Reer. Critical information – speed and range – is shown on a small head-up display positioned above the steering wheel. Minimalism is key to this interior, completely omitting touchscreens in favour of traditional button controls mounted to the roof and steering wheel.
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The three-seat cockpit, which places the driver front and centre, is more-so a statement of intent for future Alpine interiors. Inside, the production A290 will look “1%” like the show car, according to interior designer Joshua Reer. These may include a ‘one-pedal’ drive mode, maximising the motor braking so you can drive the car solely on the accelerator pedal – a boon in urban traffic jams. He added that A290 uses the same four-piston brakes as the A110, albeit tuned to blend naturally with the regeneration of the production car’s single front motor.īiardeau explained Alpine is targeting a feeling of “transparency” through the brake pedal, with various strengths of regeneration. The A290’s short wheelbase and wide track – the whole car measures 4.05m long and 1.85m across – make it inherently stable and agile, according to product boss Charlie Biardeau. Similarly, the torque vectoring on the production car’s single front motor has been set up to simulate a mechanical differential, boosting stability under braking and traction as you accelerate out of a corner. To this end, Alpine has added hydraulic bump-stops to the Renault 5’s suspension set-up, improving the A290’s ride and enhancing handling adjustability. “And we know when we switched to EV, we have heavy batteries, but we want to find exactly the same driving philosophy: agility and pure pleasure.” “The main thing is agility,” said design director Antony Villain.
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