Alpine presents concept for the sport Renault 5
Renault’s sports car brand Alpine has presented a preview of a compact electric model with the A290_ß show car. This is the sporty Alpine offshoot of the future all-electric Renault 5.
Both the Renault 5 and the production version of the Alpine offshoot are scheduled for market launch next year. Until then, the concept car should not only lose the “Beta” in the model designation A290_ß, but also some details that make up the concept.
For example, the A290_ß is a three-seater: the driver’s seat is in the middle, behind it are the two rear seats. Alpine itself states: “While the exterior of the show car corresponds in essential points to the later production model, Alpine pursues a visionary, uncompromisingly driver-oriented concept in the interior with the three-seater configuration of the A290_ß and the centrally placed driver’s seat.” In other words: the exterior (with the X-shaped light graphic, for example) is close to the standard version, the interior is not. There, too, screens are currently dispensed with completely so as not to distract from the driving experience – rather difficult to imagine in a modern production car.
In one respect, however, the concept anticipates a function of all future electric Alpines, as emphasised in the press release: In the style of the DRS system of the Alpine A523 Formula 1 racing car, all-electric Alpines will have an “overtaking button” on the steering wheel – not for active aerodynamics, but for a brief power boost of the electric drive.
With a length of 4.05 metres, a width of 1.85 metres and a height of 1.48 metres, the Alpine A290_ß, like its Renault base model, is a typical (electric) small car. The drive, however, is probably not: two electric motors are installed on the front axle. However, the French do not yet provide performance data.
By 2026, Alpine will introduce three fully electric models: in 2024, the compact electric car now presented as a design concept, which will probably be called A290 as a production model, in 2025, the electric crossover GT X-Over as well as the electric sports car already presented as a concept car as the successor to the current A110. The A290_ß picks up on the classic naming of the Alpine brand with an A followed by three digits. The first number indicates the size of the vehicle. The “90” stands for lifestyle-oriented, versatile sports cars of the brand, while the pure sports cars carry the “10”.
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