A290 concept shows direction that performance brand will take new Renault 5 EV
Alpine will begin its push into the mainstream market next year with an electric hot hatch based on the new Renault 5.
Newly previewed as the A290 Beta concept, it promises to be a more usable accompaniment to the widely acclaimed A110 sports car without compromising the brand’s sporting character.
Although the A290 Beta features an FIA-approved racing chassis and two motors mounted on the front axle, the production car will use the 5’s CMF-BEV platform.
Renault has already touted the dynamic potential of the architecture, which mounts the battery pack in the floor of the car, lowering its centre of mass and thereby improving its handling. It also features multi-link independent suspension at the rear.
Alpine has further fettled the platform to ensure that it is playful at low speeds and becomes stabler as you accelerate.
“The main thing is agility,” said design director Antony Villain. “And we know that when we switch to EV, we have heavy batteries, but we want to find exactly the same driving philosophy: agility and pure pleasure.”
To this end, Alpine has added hydraulic bump stops to the 5’s suspension set-up, improving the ride quality and enhancing handling adjustability.
Similarly, the torque vectoring on the production A290’s single front motor has been set up to simulate a mechanical differential, boosting stability under braking and traction as you accelerate out of a corner.
A short wheelbase and a wide track (the whole car measures 4.05 metres long and 1.85 metres across) make it inherently stable and agile, according to product boss Charlie Biardeau.
He added that the A290 uses the same four-piston brakes as the A110, albeit retuned to blend naturally with the regeneration effect of the single front motor.
Due to its battery, the A290 will be much heavier than the petrol-engined A110 – which weighs around 1100kg, depending on specification.
Biardeau said: “We’re finding a new balance for today’s technology. 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.
“Usually, in an ICE hot hatch, you will have all the weight on the front. [Balancing the weight towards the rear in an EV skateboard] means that when you’re braking, the
