Alpine A390 review

Something new for Alpine. More importantly, something new for all Planet Car. It's a five-door sports car, not a hotted up version of anything else, designed solely around electric power.

Alpine leverages its Formula One and Grand Prix inspo. It has advanced torque vectoring via triple-motor drive, and race-type aero in its front S-duct and rear spoiler. Detailed track telematics are available on its centre screen, downloadable to your phone so you can prepare your excuses – we mean analyse your performance – later. With video.

But more relevant to a road car, there's a bit of Alpine's sports-car magic too. The modelling of the door panel stampings has a lot of A110 about it. The roof line and rear pillar more so. The front lights use ideas from the Alpenglow hypercar concept. Big Sabelt seats keep you clamped into the action.

Is it not just a warmed-over Renault in a slinky suit?

To give you an idea of its raw size and understructure, not to mention the driver interface, it's related to the Megane. 

But the suspension is different, widening the track for more grip and less body roll. The 89kWh battery, made in France, has new chemistry and cooling for higher sustained power, both discharging and charging, for regeneration and when you're hooked up to a charger. And while the front motor is an all-coil job as Renault uses on its other cars, the rear pair are the permanent-magnet type.

So each rear wheel has its own inverter, motor and reduction gear. They're entirely independent of one another so the car's dynamics brain can over-power the outside one to pivot the car into and through a corner, or drive them at a similar speed like a limited-slip diff. But to emphasise, there is no need for an actual differential, limited-slip or free, because the wheels aren't physically connected. Meanwhile a variable split of effort with the front motor adds another degree of control.

So does it work?

In the different drive modes the A390 can alter its balance. In the dry and on these 21in performance tyres, grip slightly loosens but doesn't break. Select a spicy drive mode, turn in under the brakes and then get on the accelerator: you can feel the rear taking the load and just inching out, which is a subtle joy. More on this if you click through to the Driving page of this review.

Not much good if it isn't quick?

The spec for the GTS says 470bhp and 0-62 in less than four seconds. It feels fast, though not drastic, and hauls up to 100 without catching breath. You can also engage launch control for kick-starts.

The GT version is 400bhp, and 4.8 seconds 0-62. Top speed for that one is 125mph, versus 138mph for the GTS.

A synthetic noise, dependent on pedal position, helps your sensory connection. Regeneration is controlled by the blue steering wheel twist knob, which is less convenient than paddles but more Formula One n'est-ce pas?

What about electric stats?

Both share the 89kWh battery, and a peak charge power of 190kW. But what matters more than the peak is the ability to sustain high power for a long way through the charge period. It can get from 15-80 per cent in 25 minutes.

Range WLTP is 325 miles for the GTS in its 21in performance tyres, and 346 miles for the GT on 20in eco-rubber. So not wildly efficient, but what do you expect for this performance? It's better than a hunky SUV.

Does it work as a five-door hatch?

Much of its joy is that it's relatively small and agile. Much smaller than the Ioniq 5 N. So correspondingly tighter inside. The back is pretty cramped for grown-ups, but the lengthy tail houses a decent boot. For more detail click through the Interior section of this review.

It's tricky to give a logical comparative verdict on a car that's in a class of one. The Ioniq 5 N is the nearest, but it's bigger, so roomier, and has more of a sense of hoonery. The Porsche Macan electric costs more for the same power, or the same for less power. It's bigger too.

The A390 is maybe not the car you expected. It's really not that lairy. Rather, a quick and agile GT, something sophisticated you absolutely could enjoy every day. A fine car, not a mad one.

Its motions down the road, its springs and damping, the speed of its steering, those really do carry the character of the A110. It's just more distant. You might not get the almost obscenely intimate connection of the A110, but you do know what it's thinking and doing, and those things are well worth having.