Teaser image shows the rear of the upcoming Alpine A290_Beta electric hatchback
Alpine, the racing and sportscar division of Renault, has revealed a couple of teaser images of its upcoming electric hot hatch show car.
Called the A290 β (or beta), the car is a concept for now, with a production version expected to arrive sometime in 2024. To be revealed at a launch event in Bristol, UK on 9 May – and also streamed online – the show car is expected to be a compact, city-friendly electric hatchback.
Being from Alpine, instead of Renault, the A290 is also expected to be light, sporty and aimed at driving enthusiasts – like the company’s A110 gas-powered sports car that competes with the Porsche Cayman.
Alpine describes the show car as a “future 100% electric urban sports car to be introduced in 2024”. The French company added: “The A290_β show car foreshadows the brand’s future electric hot hatch, ready to reinvent sportiness. The first vehicle in the ‘Dream Garage’ embodies a new era for Alpine, purposefully electric and sporty.”
Alpine says how the car expands on its existing naming strategy, where all of its car names use an A followed by three digits. The first number refers to the size of the car, Alpine says, and the 90 in this case refers to how the new car sits in the company’s “multi-purpose sports vehicles” segment. Pure sports cars from Alpine use an A followed by a number to show their size, then 10 – hence its small sports car is the A110.
Alpine will reveal the show car in the UK on 9 May
Naturally, the “Beta” bit of the A290_β refers to the car being a concept and not yet ready for production – like how a technology firm’s beta software is representative of the finished item, but generally isn’t yet available to the public.
What can we determine from the teaser images? Well, it certainly looks like a small car, with a pronounced bulge in the hood and a spoiler sprouting upwards at the tailend of the roof. There are hints of Group B rally cars in here, I reckon, and proportions not dissimilar to the electric Renault 5 concept revealed last year and also due into production in 2024. It’s entirely likely that the new cars will be based on the same platform – and use the same 160 kW motor as the Renault Mégan E-Tech – but what I’m most eager to see is how Alpine makes a small electric hatchback feel as sporty and dynamic as Renault hot hatches of days gone by.
Lastly, that “Dream Garage” Alpine speaks of is a reference to its future product lineup, which will include a production version of the A290 hot hatch, plus a next-generation A110 electric sports car and an all-new electric crossover.
The A290_β will be revealed at an event in Bristol, UK at 9:30 pm local time (4:30 pm EST), and the event will be streamed online too.