Alpine’s first new car in seven years, the A290 small EV, is not only a “reinvention” of the hot hatch, but it will be an entry point to the reinvention of the Renault Group sports-car brand. The A290 is based on the Amp-R platform that underpins the new Renault 5, and the body in white is nearly identical, but Alpine Chief Designer Antony Villain and his team have taken care to give it an Alpine identity.
“We’re bringing the Renault 5 into the Alpine world,” Villain said in an interview. With the idea of an iconic hot hatchback firmly in mind, like a Peugeot 205 GTi or the Renault 5 Turbo, Alpine designers first focused on an aggressive stance. The track has been widened by 60 mm, and 19-inch wheels (one inch bigger than the Renault 5) are tucked under flared arches. “The wheels are really pushed to the four corners,” Villain said. “It’s like a skateboard.”
The front and rear bumpers have been redesigned, and the rear doors with a scallop pattern are unique to the A290. Villain called the doors “a cool ingredient that reminds you of rally cars from the past like the Renault 5 Turbo 2. “We call it the Alpine swoosh,” he said. Inside, the A290 is distinctly an Alpine rather than a Renault, starting with a Formula One-inspired steering wheel with two aluminum controls: A red “overtake” button gives a brief boost of extra battery power, while a blue dial controls the strength of regenerative braking.
Deeply bolstered seats and a center console with push-button shift controls reflect the A290’s sports-car aspirations. Drivers will also have a custom digital user experience with, for instance, the silhouettes of a mountain. The goal is to create a closer connection between the driver and the road, Villain said. The HMI also includes detailed telemetrics and coaching, with a number of challenges meant to improve driving skills. “It’s important to reach new customers. This car is a way to enter into the brand in a more affordable way but with all the DNA of the brand,” Villain said. As head of Alpine design since the brand’s rebirth in 2016, Villain has been refining its design philosophy, but always keeping to three main pillars. The first is inspiration from the mountains, because Alpine’s founder, Jean Redele, was thinking of small, nimble cars driving on a mountain road rather than name the brand after himself, unlike other tuners in the 1950s.
The second is a racing heritage, which means form follows function, with lightweight materials, a visible structure and beauty that is found in technical details, Villain said. The last is a sense of French savoir-faire, which he described as cars that are both chic sporty. The A290, then, is just a taste of how Alpine is carving out a new identity with future cars such as the GT SUV, the next A110 and the A310 2+2. “We’re using these pillarsthe A290 today, and the next cars and concept cars we will show will have more and more of these ingredients,” Villain said.
