The A290 will be significantly heavier than the A110 (around 1100kg, depending on specification) due to its battery. Alpine is “finding a new balance for today’s technology”, Biardeau said, adding: “The heritage of Alpine is agility and distinctive ride. It can be through the weight, but it can also be through other features, and EVs also provide you much more torque. It means that [the agility] sometimes isn’t in the figures, but in the feeling you will have – it’s a moving weight.
He added: “Usually, in an ICE hot hatch, you will have all the weight on the front. [Balancing the weight toward the rear] means that when you are braking, the rear is more stable; so you can play in other ways with the suspension and so on.”
Power, engineering boss Bonetto has confirmed to Autocar, will come in two levels. As previously reported, one will be a shortened version of the Renault Mégane E-Tech Electric’s 215bhp motor. The other – yet to be officially detailed – is expected to be the 268bhp unit developed by Renault, Valeo and Valeo-Siemens, slated to enter production in 2027. All power outputs are planned to provide “a good level of performance” without feeling “brutal”, said Bonetto.
Only one battery will be offered, with this expected to roughly match the Renault Zoe’s 52kWh capacity and 238-mile official range. The French firm previously announced that its new-generation pack – split into four ‘big modules’ – is more dense than the Zoe unit, and is 15kg lighter as a result.