Alpine A290

Alpine A290 at a glance

Alpine's first electric car

Until 2024 the Alpine range consisted of the A110, a mid-engined petrol two-seater built in Dieppe. The A290 opened Alpine's electric plan as a smaller, cheaper five-seater for daily use. The A290_β concept was shown on 9 May 2023, and the production car appeared at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June 2024; our history of Alpine covers the background.

Alpine design director Antony Villain led the styling. The car shares its structure, battery and much of its interior with the Renault 5 E-Tech and is assembled on the same line at Douai. Its electric motor comes from Renault's Cléon plant.

What Alpine changed on the Renault 5

The A290 is 3,990 mm long, 1,820 mm wide and 1,520 mm high, with a wheelbase of 2,530 mm, about the same as the Renault 5's. Alpine widened the tracks by 60 mm and tuned the multi-link rear axle, a rare layout in this class, with its own front and rear anti-roll bars and hydraulic bump stops. The turning circle is 10.2 m.

Braking uses Brembo four-piston monobloc front calipers with by-wire control. The 19-inch wheels carry Michelin tyres developed for the car: Pilot Sport EV on the GT, sportier Pilot Sport tyres on the faster versions and Pilot Alpin 5 winter tyres as an option. Alpine quotes a weight of 1,479 kg; ADAC's EU kerb weight, which includes a driver, is 1,554 kg.

GT, GT Premium, GT Performance and GTS

The GT Premium is the comfort-oriented 130 kW version, while the GTS is the best-equipped 160 kW car. ADAC lists WLTP consumption of 15.9 kWh/100 km for the GT and 16.7 kWh/100 km for the GTS; in ADAC's own Ecotest the GTS used 19.6 kWh/100 km including charging losses. Alpine's launch material quoted 300 Nm for all versions, while ADAC lists 285 Nm for the 130 kW cars.

Driving controls and charging

A red overtake button on the steering wheel releases maximum power for 10 seconds, and an "RCH" button selects four levels of regenerative braking, from none to a strong setting similar to engine braking. Alpine Telemetrics shows live data, offers coaching and sets driving challenges. Two selectable drive sounds are played through the Devialet audio system and can be switched off.

DC charging peaks at 100 kW, and 15 to 80% takes about 30 minutes; Alpine says 15 minutes adds up to 150 km of WLTP range. The 11 kW on-board charger needs 3 hours 20 minutes from 10 to 80%. The boot holds 326 litres (11.5 cu ft), or 1,106 litres with the rear seat folded, and towing is limited to 500 kg.

Safety: four Euro NCAP stars

Euro NCAP tested the A290 in December 2024 and awarded four stars. The scores are 80% for adult occupants, 80% for child occupants, 76% for vulnerable road users and 68% for safety assist, 76 points out of 100 in ADAC's summary. The Renault 4 E-Tech on the same platform received the same star rating.

Prices and launch editions

Alpine launched the A290 with the Première Édition, limited to 1,955 cars in four versions: Première Édition, Beta, La Bleue and La Grise. In Germany ADAC listed the Première Édition at EUR 46,200 from December 2024 to July 2026.

Rivals and which A290 to buy

The closest comparison is the Renault 5 E-Tech it is based on: with the same 52 kWh battery the Renault has 110 kW, against 130 or 160 kW in the Alpine, and it started at EUR 32,900 in Germany in 2024. Other electric hot hatches and petrol rivals are gathered in our best hot hatches list, and the full Alpine line-up is in the Alpine catalogue.

The GT Performance is the version to choose for most buyers: it has the full 160 kW and 6.4-second sprint for EUR 42,200 in Germany, the same price as the softer GT Premium and EUR 2,800 below the GTS. The basic GT offers the longest range at 378 km. The GTS has the same performance as the GT Performance and adds equipment.

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