New Alpine A290 coming soon as electric hot hatch

In 2024 we expect a modern version of the famous Renault 5. Alpine, which until now has mainly dealt with racing and sports cars, joins the retro trend and comes next year with the Alpine A290, a sporty hot hatch based on the modern Renault 5 with even a hint of McLaren.

It’s not the first time Alpine has been involved in a Renault 5. An Alpine variant of the R5 also appeared in 1976. A hatchback that will make you greedy as a car fanatic. You can satisfy that desire because you will find it old school hot hatch here as an occasion.

Very distinctive features on the Alpine A290_β

But we digress. Back to 2023. Alpine presented the A290. Well, A290_β we should say. Although the car appears production-ready on many fronts, it’s still a beta version, hence the β after the model name. The question therefore arises whether we have some very outspoken characteristics.

Think of the fragile-looking mirrors, unusually shaped windshield and distinctive taillight assemblies of the Alpine A290 beta. It gives a very cool look to the hot hatch. What also helps is the large rear wing and the fact that the sides are flared and fitted with carbon fiber fender flares.

production version

The design of the Alpine is beautiful and eye-catching. A hot hatch you want and be seen in. It’s thumbs up that looks Until next year, when the first production version rolls off the assembly line, not too much will change. The question is what the interior will look like then.

At the moment the driver in the Alpine A290_β still sits in the middle, which is reminiscent of the seating position in the McLaren F1. We probably won’t see that in combination with all sorts of other concept car features in the interior next year when the Alpine A290 comes onto the car market.

Specifications of the Alpine A290

In terms of size, the Hot Hatch is very reminiscent of this new affordable EV from Volkswagen, although the A290_β is slightly wider at 1.85 meters wide. The Frenchman has two electric motors in the front; one more than the retro Renault 5. You should be able to deliver quite a bit of power to the front wheels. Unfortunately, Alpine will again fish one of these electric motors from the production Alpine A290. The performance of the production version still seems to be well over 200 hp.