The beta car: Alpine presents sporty show car

From a purely visual point of view, the Alpine A390_β is somewhere between a saloon and a coupé. The slightly raised seating position implies that the car is an SUV coupé —not according to Alpine. At its launch, the Renault company literally said, ‘This is first and foremost a sports car. ‘ It seems that reference to it being a classic crossover is being avoided, and the term ‘sporty fastback’ is repeatedly used to describe the vehicle.

It’s true; the car definitely comes across as sporty. A powerful front end, muscular lines, and a lot of aerodynamic play symbolise a lot of performance. The Alpine triangle can be found everywhere as a focal element, and the wheel rims are designed to resemble snowflakes. According to the designers, the exterior of the show car is 85 per cent identical to the production model. We, therefore, assume that the dimensions will not change much and that the red pencil will only come out for design gimmicks.

Interior experiments

Unfortunately, the 85 per cent readiness for series production does not apply to the interior, which has been deliberately kept ‘experimental’. A leading theme here is duality and bringing opposing characteristics together. The interior is designed to combine comfort and Formula 1-like performance, which is why hard bucket seats are installed at the front and soft memory foam seats at the rear. In keeping with the Formula 1 theme, there is a rectangular steering wheel with large knobs and tethered 5-point seat belts. To keep your eyes on the road, a three-dimensional head-up display generates images with a depth effect.

Alpine has also separated these two worlds (Formula 1 in the front and comfortable travel in the rear) in terms of colour: the front row of seats is partially in asphalt grey, while the rear bench seat shines in snow white. Snow not only gives the car its aesthetic symbology inside and out but also builds a bridge to the French Alps, which gives the Alpine its name. Little skiers whizz across the rear seats, which are mostly white but change to reddish tones towards the top in homage to the alpenglow of the mountain peaks at sunset.

Technical data under wraps

But what can the A390_β actually do on the road, apart from looking gorgeous? Alpine is currently keeping a lid on this, and only letting a few hard facts slip out. Apart from the 85 per cent finished product, so far, we have only been told that the car will be based on the AmpR Medium platform. This is essentially the renamed CMF-EV (Common Modular Family) architecture, which is also used by Renault partner Nissan.

This gives us clues to a few key data points, such as the 400-volt voltage level of the high-voltage system. If the charging power remained the same as the Renault Scenic, the Alpine A390_β would have to make do with a meagre 150 kW charging power. There will only be one battery option (we roughly estimate it to be in the region of 90 kWh), which will always work with three motors: One for the front axle and two for the rear axle. Thanks to torque vectoring, this enables particularly dynamic cornering, and we can assume there will be a correspondingly high overall system performance. To demonstrate just how sporty the A390 will be, the Alpine developers show us a video of a race between an Alpine A110 and an A390 prototype. Despite its significantly higher weight, the SUV (sorry, the ‘sporty fastback’) can easily keep up with the small and light sports car.

Tesla as the main competitor

Alpine CEO Philippe Krief took the opportunity after the première to talk about the company’s electrification strategy. The buzzword ‘duality’ continues to run through the car’s anatomy because although Alpine pays homage to the classic combustion engine in Formula 1, it wants to become a pure electric brand for end customers.

In fact, Alpine wants to launch seven BEVs on the market, significantly expanding its model range.

When asked who the main competitor for the series version of the A390_β would be, the Alpine CEO replied like a pistol shot: ‘Tesla!’ So, the European mountain brand is interested in baking small batches but wants to take on the industry leader right away.

For this to succeed, a good price-performance ratio is a must, as this is currently one of Tesla’s greatest strengths.

Unfortunately, we won’t know the prices for the A390 until next year when the production version is unveiled – but there is one indication: the slightly smaller Renault Scenic costs more than €56,000 with a large battery and lots of equipment. Alpine will probably price the A390 at a generous margin.