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You may know Alpine. It’s a very old brand that died out for a few decades, but in recent years has come back to life with the petrol-powered Alpine A110 and – more pertinent to us here at Electrifying – the Alpine A290 hot hatch.
Now, it’s released a concept of its third new model, the A390_b. Revealed ahead of its Paris motor show debut next week, the A390_b is the company’s new ‘multi-purpose everyday vehicle’ – but don’t call it an SUV… It’s a ‘Sport Fastback’. And, to be fair, it does look rather more saloon than SUV to us.
Anyway, this is the sensible family car that Alpine is bringing out, and it will sit above the smaller A290 hatchback, but won’t be as sporty as the electric version of the little two-seat coupe A110 that’s also on the cards in the next few years.
When it goes on sale, Alpine’s five-door fastback will just be known as the A390 – but the concept is called the A390_b, for beta, in reference to this concept being the beta version ahead of the final production car. For our purposes here, then, let’s just call it the A390, eh?
Now, Alpine describes this car as a "racing car in a tuxedo”, and Renault’s sporting sub-brand hopes it’ll bring the fight to cars like the Polestar 4, Hyundai Ioniq 5 N and Porsche Macan. Underneath, it's actually the same platform that underpins the Renault Scenic and Nissan Ariya, albeit dramatically altered to suit Alpine’s more sporting intentions.
It’s very aerodynamic, and leans on Alpine’s Formula One knowledge to get the best possible results. Take a look at it! Soak in the "flying bridge" at the front to improve airflow over the vehicle, and the micro-perforated grille that guides air more efficiently. All finished in alloy wheels that are inspired by snowflakes, and ‘Bleu Spectacular’ paint, which actually has paint particles that vibrate with movement to further enhance light reflection.
And the inside? How about some floating F1-style seats, and a steering wheel which retracts and actually gets smaller when you put it into ‘F1 mode. Never mind the ice crystal in the centre that acts as the key to start the vehicle. In the back seats, as a stark contrast to the sharp F1-inspired lines of the driver’s environment, you get an Alps-inspired scene with what Alpine describes as ‘an immaculate blanket of powder’, although it is actually white, memory-foam coated seats.
As for how it drives? Well, that AmpR Medium platform is heavily modified by Alpine, which states that the A390 will suit drivers who want the sportiness of the A110 yet also want the functionality of a five-door family car.
So the batteries are positioned under the passenger seat and as low as possible, to keep the centre of gravity low. It will also get three Alpine-developed electric motors; one at the front and two at the rear, which will shuffle torque between the front and rear axles, as well as between the left and right rear wheels, for maximum agility and confidence.
Power output, performance figures, battery size and range is all yet to be confirmed for the Alpine A390, but it’d make sense if it were to use the same batteries as the Scenic, which gets am 87kWh li-ion NMC battery.
As for pricing, we’d expect the Alpine to come in at roughly in at a similar price to the Polestar 4 and Hyundai Ioniq 5, which cost around £60,000. Manufacturing of the Alpine A390 starts at the company’s Dieppe factory next year, so expect to see it in showrooms towards the end of 2025.
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