And so, Alpine crosses a boundary.
Till now, the revived French sports activities automotive maker – lengthy since a part of the Renault Group – has been enjoying on a well-known pitch, making the delectable A110 mid-engined sports activities automotive and a heated-up model of Renault’s 5 E-Tech electrical hatchback referred to as the A290.
Each of those vehicles are properly inside Alpine’s conventional wheelhouse. The model obtained its begin making sportier, modified variations of Renault’s 4CV, the French automaker’s rival for the Volkswagen Beetle.
Later it produced the hopelessly fairly authentic A110, which grew to become a rallying famous person, after which spent the Nineteen Seventies, Nineteen Eighties and early Nineties attempting to create a Porsche 911 rival with a collection of fibreglass-bodied, rear-engined four-seaters, latterly utilizing a turbocharged model of Renault’s outdated V6 engine slung behind the again axle.
Alpine was thought useless within the early Nineties, however Renault threw the shutters again up in 2018 with the retro-look A110 coupe that was bought briefly in Australia, a (largely unsuccessful) entry into Formulation 1, and a (barely extra fruitful) return to Alpine’s conventional searching grounds of sports activities automotive racing and the Le Mans 24 Hour.
Now, with the electrical revolution upon us, Alpine has set out its stall as Renault’s all-electric, high-performance model. The A290 electrical sizzling hatch – not presently accessible in Australia – has turn into one thing of a darling amongst automotive nuts in Europe, with cool retro-rally styling (full with built-in spotlights on the bonnet) and steering and suspension to place a VW Golf GTI to disgrace.
Now, comes this A390 electrical fastback SUV, Alpine’s largest, heaviest and most sensible automotive but, transferring the model into very new territory and taking up the likes of Porsche and Polestar, to not point out BMW, Audi and Mercedes, within the premium electrical crossover class.
That is Alpine laying down the gauntlet, making a self-proclaimed ‘dream storage’ of electrical vehicles, which by the tip of 2026 will encompass this A390, the A290, and the upcoming all-electric alternative for the A110 sports activities automotive.
The A390 is the primary new Alpine to be confirmed for the Australian market, however it is going to be properly into 2026, perhaps even early 2027, earlier than it crosses the Indian Ocean. Is it value holding off on that Porsche Macan Electrical buy? We’ve had a primary style on Spanish roads to search out out.
The primary, visible, impressions are excellent certainly. The A390 principally abandons the A110’s self-consciously retro appears, and it’s not sure by the present form of the Renault 5 as was the case for the A290. So it may be extra of its personal factor, and it pushes Alpine’s styling language into a brand new, extra trendy period whereas nonetheless managing to maintain its peripheral imaginative and prescient on the wonderful previous.
So the styling is kind of sharp-edged and really ‘aero’. The normal Alpine quad-light look is recreated for the twenty first century with glowering, ultra-slim LED models just below the vanguard of the nostril, and these are augmented by little triangular ‘shards’ of LED lights, which Alpine calls ‘Cosmic Mud’.
There’s an open S-duct-style wing on the entrance of the nostril, not not like that of the Polestar 3, and that sends air up over the bonnet and to the subtly double-bubbled roof, which appears decrease than its 1515mm peak.
On the rear, there’s a neat spoiler on the base of the display, framed by roof pillars which mimic the form of the A110 coupe’s roofline, and full-width tail-lights with an ‘X’ motif, and the Alpine identify lit up in pink within the centre.
Set off by barely garish 21-inch ‘Snowflake’ alloy wheels, with their silver highlights actually selecting out the form of a snowflake’s crystalline edges, and pink brake calipers (20-inch wheels of comparable design are normal), the A390 appears nice, and much nearer to a barely raised-up sports activities sedan than it’s a squashed SUV.
The ‘Bleu Alpine Imaginative and prescient’ paint job could be a bit predictable, however it’s additionally actually beautiful, and pays applicable homage to traditional French racing blue. Hey, if it’s adequate for Bugatti…
How a lot does the Alpine A390 GT price?
We merely don’t know but, however a price ticket of €67,000 for the entry-level GT mannequin in Europe suggests it could be above $80,000 and would possibly even creep near $100,000 right here, actually for the GTS mannequin, which goes to be a giant ask for a model with which solely hardcore automotive fanatics are actually acquainted.
The Alpine can have its work lower out convincing consumers of high-end German marques to make the change, after which there’s competitors from the likes of Polestar, Ford’s Mustang Mach-E, and the Chinese language manufacturers to fret about.
Alpine must do a whole lot of brand-building if it’s to achieve success right here, however maybe the badge’s rugged rallying heritage will play a helpful half in that.
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What’s the Alpine A390 GT like on the within?
There’s a contact an excessive amount of similarity to much more humbly priced Renaults concerning the A390’s cabin while you first sit in it. Certainly, your entire instrument and infotainment setup is lifted – roughly wholesale – from the Renault Scenic, which shares its chassis with the Alpine.
Okay, so the A390 has bespoke graphics, and a intelligent telemetry recording system which syncs together with your telephone and ensures that no one will need to speak to you at events, however Alpine must have interiors which are extra bespoke at this worth stage. Fortunately, for future fashions, the model appears to have gotten that message.
There are some particularly Alpine highlights, nonetheless. The three-spoke steering wheel is lifted from the A290 sizzling hatch, and whereas it could be fanciful for Alpine to say that it’s impressed by its eponymous F1 automotive, there are some actually neat touches past the delicate leather-based wrapping across the wheel rim.
There are three buttons connected to the wheel and these are principally nice to make use of. The highest proper button, a small steel tab, painted pink with the letters OV for ‘overtake’ printed in white is the push-to-pass button. In any driving mode, press this and also you get most assault from the A390’s electrical motors for 10 seconds at a time. You don’t technically want it as you possibly can have the identical impact by urgent the accelerator to the ground, however it’s a neat little bit of theatre, and the OV button additionally prompts launch management.
The button on the backside left is marked RCH, for ‘Recharge’, and it’s a delightfully tactile rotary change, whose springy motion turns it right into a Francophone model of Ferrari’s ‘Manettino’. It controls the extent of regenerative braking, from totally freewheeling to one-pedal driving for on the town.
Lastly, on the backside proper, there’s a easy driving mode button, which you simply press to name up Regular, Sport, Save, or Monitor modes, and which feels a bit missing within the theatre of the opposite switchgear.
The large 12-inch touchscreen within the centre of the sprint, angled in direction of the motive force, is nice to make use of due to Google-based software program, and it’s backed up – fortunately – by bodily buttons which management many of the heating and air-conditioning features.
The remainder of the cabin is essentially swathed in a combination of pale gray Nappa leather-based and mid-blue Alcantara suede, together with the wonderful entrance bucket seats (a set of full-Nappa buckets, by race automotive provider Sabelt, is optionally accessible) and total high quality is fairly good. It’s only a disgrace that the A390 makes use of the identical low-cost plastic begin/cease button as each different Renault, which detracts from the picture a bit.
Cupboard space up entrance is okay, though the door bins and the field beneath the break up armrest are each slim. There’s open storage beneath the centre console, however the glovebox is fairly hopeless.
Within the again, house is nearer to ample than beneficiant, though I – at 185cm – was in a position to match comfortably behind my very own driving place. The rear seat is supportive, however there’s no practical house within the centre, and the roofline is kind of low, so should you’re tall you would possibly battle for headroom.
Boot house is respectable – 532 litres is greater than you get within the new BMW iX3, as an example – however there’s a deep loading lip, and the swoopy bodywork on the rear will make loading something too boxy fairly difficult. Nonetheless, it’s positively probably the most sensible automotive Alpine has ever constructed, in order that’s one thing.
| Dimensions | Alpine A390 GT |
|---|---|
| Size | 4615mm |
| Width | 2005mm |
| Top | 1525mm |
| Wheelbase | 2708mm |
| Cargo capability | 532L (behind rear seats) 1643L (behind entrance seats) |
What’s beneath the bonnet?
Alpine has given the A390 a singular – properly, distinctive inside its worth vary anyway – three-motor format, with two motors on the rear, one every for the rear wheels. There’s a 3rd motor on the entrance, and all three share the identical 98.3kW peak energy output, not less than within the GT variant, for a mixed 295kW of energy and 661Nm of torque.
| Specs | Alpine A390 GT |
|---|---|
| Drivetrain | Tri-motor electrical |
| Battery | 89kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) |
| Energy | 295kW |
| Torque | 661Nm |
| Drive sort | All-wheel drive |
| Weight | 2124kg |
| 0-100km/h (claimed) | 4.8 seconds |
| Power consumption (claimed) | 18.7kWh/100km |
| Power consumption (as examined) | 22.0-25.0kWh/100km |
| Claimed vary | 557km |
| Max AC cost price | 11kW (22kW non-obligatory) |
| Max DC cost price | 150kW |
That’s sufficient for a really speedy 4.8-second 0-100km/h time, however there may be an improve for the GTS flagship, with 345kW and an enormous 824Nm of torque, which is able to do the identical dash in simply 3.9 seconds (each are claimed occasions).
Each A390s use a 89kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt battery, however the GTS will get subtly completely different battery chemistry, which permits it to have the next sustained energy output, and likewise to cost extra shortly.
The official vary is 557km for the GT working on the entry-level 20-inch alloy wheels, with bespoke Michelin Pilot tyres, or 503km for the extra highly effective GTS, working 21-inch alloys with a extra aggressive model of the identical tyre.
Precise vary? It is determined by the way you drive, after all, however from our check drive within the GT we’d counsel a worst-case state of affairs of 350km should you’re urgent on, and as much as 450km should you’re taking issues a contact simpler. That’s ample, quite than really spectacular, however taken within the context of the A390’s efficiency and sporting remit, it’s not too unhealthy.
How does the Alpine A390 GT drive?
The fear right here was that Alpine’s character – derived from ultra-light sports activities vehicles – would get smothered, virtually actually, by the load and bulk of a crossover physique and a large-capacity EV battery. Nevertheless, taken in opposition to rivals – such because the Polestar 4 or the Porsche Macan Electrical – the Alpine is definitely 200kg lighter, even when its 2124kg kerb weight gained’t make glad studying for sports activities automotive fanatics.
Alpine was clearly sensible to the problem, although, therefore the three-motor format which permits extremely correct torque management and supply for every rear wheel. This enables the A390 to over-speed the skin rear wheel while you’re cornering, successfully steering the automotive from the rear, and permitting you to tuck the nostril tight into an apex.
This ‘torque-vectoring’ system works brilliantly, with an apparent sense that the rear-end helps steadiness and switch the entire automotive, but with none sensation of the nervousness that you just would possibly get with four-wheel steering.
Talking of which, the A390 has splendidly balanced steering, which doesn’t resort to faux-sporty extreme weight (it’s fairly mild, really) however which delivers loads of real highway really feel. It’s type of astonishing how the A390 – with its motors, Michelin tyres, and candy steering – manages to withstand the kind of dogged understeer that normally blights heavy, quick EVs.
It helps that the trip high quality is nice too, with hydraulic bump-stops taking the sting out of massive lumps, though the A390 is stiff sufficient to stay properly stage beneath arduous cornering.
It’s additionally spectacular that Alpine’s engineers have managed to do that – create an agile, enjoyable and but easy automotive – with out recourse to adaptive dampers nor air suspension. That is simply good old style spring and damper tuning, and it’s all the higher for it.
Does the A390 really disguise its weight? No, you’re all the time conscious that there’s a whole lot of mass to regulate, though the way in which the A390 avoids feeling unstable beneath heavy braking is one other spectacular be aware, tipping a hat to the six-piston monobloc entrance calipers.
What do you get?
In Europe not less than, the Alpine A390 shall be supplied in GT and GTS variants.
2026 Alpine A390 gear highlights:
- 12-inch touchscreen
- Smartphone mirroring
- LED headlights and tail-lights
- Digital instrument panel
- Warmth pump
- Twin-zone local weather management
- Adaptive cruise management
- 12-speaker Devialet stereo
- Heated entrance seats and steering wheel
- Wi-fi telephone charging
- On-board telemetry
- Alcantara and Nappa leather-based trim
- 20-inch alloy wheels
Is the Alpine A390 GT protected?
It actually should be – the A390 hasn’t but been examined by both ANCAP or Euro NCAP, however it’s primarily based on the identical platform because the ultra-safe Renault Scenic, and shares all of that automotive’s energetic and passive security options. That mentioned, it’s a disgrace that, even at this worth stage, Alpine asks you to dip into the choices checklist to get gadgets akin to lane-centring and hands-free parking.
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Normal security gear contains:
- Ahead collision warning and automated emergency braking
- Velocity restrict warning
- Lane maintaining
- Site visitors signal recognition
- Entrance and rear parking sensors and 360-degree digital camera
- Driver consideration warning
- Adaptive cruise management with stop-and-go
- Blind spot monitor
How a lot does the Alpine A390 GT price to run?
On our check, the A390 wavered between vitality consumption of 22kWh per 100km and 25kWh/100km, so you’ll have to cost up regularly, even with that large battery capability.
At 16c per kWh on a great night time price, a 10-100 per cent cost will price $12.81, which appears none too shabby contemplating the efficiency on provide, and the way a lot gas an equal petrol-engined automotive would eat to ship the identical efficiency.
We’re awaiting ultimate particulars, however it appears like Alpine will observe Renault Australia’s lead with a five-year/100,000km guarantee as is included with the Renault Megane E-Tech, together with roadside help, and one-year servicing intervals with inclusive servicing plans accessible.
CarExpert’s Tackle the Alpine A390 GT
It’s usually a nasty concept to enterprise too far past your core competency, however the Alpine A390 manages to maneuver the goalposts for the model as an entire.
Alpine’s first strive at a sensible electrical household automotive is massively profitable, combining good-looking appears with distinctive efficiency and dealing with, alongside a way of enjoyable, enjoyment and character that’s too usually missing as of late, even from premium-badge rivals.
Alpine must work arduous to persuade Aussie consumers who merely don’t know the model properly, however for these ready to take an opportunity, the rewards are manifest.
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