Alpine gets ready to unveil its first fully electric car

Initially a concept car, Alpine's first fully electric model will be making its way to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in production-ready form.

Specifically, Alpine has laid out plans to unveil its first 100% electric vehicle, the A290, on 13 June 2024, and will use the French stop of Le Mans to unveil the sporty five-seater city car. The A290 is what Alpine says is the performance-oriented variant of the Renault 5.

The A290 started off as a concept car in 2023, before going for winter testing early this year in anticipation of its release in June

While the exact design has not been confirmed, Alpine has previously stated that the car will have an overall length of 3,990mm, a width of 1,820mmm and a height of 1,520mm. These dimensions make the car slightly smaller in length, width and height as compared to the concept car - named the A290_(beta) - which was unveiled last year. 

While not much information has been released for the actual production car, the A290_(beta)'s cabin was designed around a centrally positioned driver, and equipped with essential information displayed through a heads-up display. 

Additionally, the A290's design should carry a strong racing-inspired undertone, with the A290_(beta)'s steering wheel said to be derived from Alpine's motorsport experience. The latter also offered a driver's headset, which is said to offer additional race-related information. 

The winter testing of the A290 early this year further refined the car's responsiveness, driving precision, and agility. With these improvements, Alpine states that the car will consistently deliver the performance expected of a performance-oriented EV under extreme conditions.