Alpine's A290 electric hot hatch: hit or miss?

Sam Burnett: “Some will complain it’s just a Renault 5 in disguise”

I love a good EV, probably more than anyone, but the A290’s the one that excites me. You can rattle off pricey alternatives, but they all feel like you’re standing on the shoulders of technical giants.

Finally, a hot EV that won’t filter the drive through the efforts of a distant coding team. Sure, £40k doesn’t feel like a hot hatch sort of price, but Top Gear magazine's first ever issue was £2.40 back in 1993. Some will complain it’s just a Renault 5 in disguise, but what a lovely car to build on.

With EV speed figures now an irrelevance, we’ve needed someone to focus on driving purity. If Lotus can’t be bothered and Caterham can’t afford to, it’s Alpine’s moment. Liberté, égalité, électricité.

Jack Rix: “It weighs 1.5 tonnes so it’ll never be a ballet dancer”

I’m a big fan of the new Renault 5, I love a bit of Alpine, but for some reason the A290 is leaving me colder than Captain Birdseye.

I’m poised to be proved wrong when I drive it, but it’s not massively fast, the power delivery will be no more interesting or engaging than the standard R5, it weighs nearly 1.5 tonnes so however good the chassis changes are it’ll never be a ballet dancer, and it’ll only cover 200 real world miles between charges.

It does look good, but modern Alpine has forged its reputation on the A110’s forensic weightsaving and handling brilliance, not purely its kerb appeal. Is this a styling exercise and a few more horsepower, or a hot hatch for the drivers? I hope the latter but suspect the former...