Alpine promised that its next new EV, the A390 unveiled today, would be as dramatic to look at as the show car that previewed it, and it has undoubtedly delivered on that. While some will refer to the A390 as an SUV, it looks like no other on the road, putting paid to Alpine's 'fastback' label for the new car. And if the driving experience lives up to even half of what the French outfit is claiming, it should be something very special indeed.
So the Alpine A390 is a fast EV?
In a word, yes, though Alpine makes lots of references in its release to how it drives and how that is more important than outright speed. Easy to say when the A390 has up to 470hp as its disposal...
That's for the A390 GTS model, which also makes up to 808Nm of torque, enabling a 0-100km/h time of just 3.9 seconds. The A390 GT isn't far behind with a still-respectable time of 4.8 seconds thanks to peak outputs of 400hp and 650Nm.
Both variants detailed so far use a triple-motor layout, with a motor for each of the rear wheels and one for the front axle. This setup enables Alpine Active Torque Vectoring, which means the rear motors can operate independently to dramatically alter the car's attitude into, through and out of a corner. It can also operate as a limited slip differential of sorts and Alpine reckons it helps the big A390 (the brand's largest car yet, by far) feel much more agile and lighter than it would otherwise do.
How big is the Alpine A390, exactly?
Pretty big. The Alpine A390 is 4,615mm long, 1,885mm wide and 1,532mm tall, making it larger than, say, a Nissan Ariya, but a little smaller than the Tesla Model Y and electric Porsche Macan.
A glance inside the cabin reveals a five-seat layout with the expected ISOFIX mounting points in the back and the rear seat backs split and fold if the 532-litre boot isn't large enough for your needs.
Sounds suspiciously practical. I thought it was sporty...
Can I draw your attention to the view from the driver's seat? They get a flat-bottomed steering wheel with a 12 o'clock marker, a prominent drive-mode button, a big chunky motorsport-inspired rotary to alter the level of the brake energy regeneration and a red “OV” button to initiate the launch control or use the 'Overtake' function with maximum available performance.
The dashboard itself will be familiar to some Renault drivers, with 12.3-inch digital instrumentation and an upright 12-inch touchscreen - thankfully mixed with actual physical buttons for the climate control and more. There are unique Alpine graphics, button-operated drive selection mimicking that of the Alpine A110 sports car and what promise to be premium materials throughout.
What's “Telemetrics” all about?
Alpine appears to be blurring the line between driving and playing a driving game, though the end result promises to feel very real indeed given the performance on tap. The Telmetrics system encompasses Live Data with access to all the car's data - even extending to lap times, lateral and longitudinal G-forces and so much more; Coaching, which seems to teach drivers the basics of safe cornering at one end of the spectrum, and drifting at the other; and Challenges, with public and private road 'missions' to complete.
Is the battery pack up to the 'challenge'?
According to Alpine it is. The A390 employs a new battery by a French company, Verkor. It's of 89kWh capacity designed specifically for a high-performance car such as this. It can take in a DC charge at up to 190kW and has 11kW AC charging as standard, with 22kW as an option.
Alpine says it can support sustained use of the car's considerable performance and yet, under WLTP conditions, the A390 GT can manage up to 555km on a charge. The GTS, sitting on larger (21-inch as opposed to 20-inch) wheels, is supposedly good for a still-useful 520km.
Sounds like a good package. Not for Ireland I take it?
Don't be so hasty. As it happens, we've been invited to an event in the coming weeks to discuss Alpine's introduction to the Irish market. It didn't make much sense before with only the petrol-powered A110 coupe to sell, but now the brand has the A290 hot hatch, this A390 and a forthcoming, all-electric replacement for the A110 to make the most of our tax laws. And no, we have no idea how much the A390 will cost in Ireland yet, but given its UK pricing, it should undercut the electric Porsche Macan but with more performance.
