Introduction to the 2025 Alpine A290 GTS
There's a rapidly dating narrative out there that electric cars can't be fun. Without the growl of a sporty exhaust, or a howl of the air intake trumpets all singing together, how can you have any fun behind the wheel at all?
Well, that's just luddite thinking, isn't it? And Alpine is here to try and prove the point. It has taken Renault's award-winning 5 E-Tech hatchback - already lauded as much for how it drives as for how it looks - and added a thicker lacquer of sportiness thanks to uprated steering, brakes and suspension, as well as an electric motor that boosts power by as much as 70hp compared to the Renault version.
Which does lead to an interesting question - does the extra power and potential poise make this Alpine, the brand's first all-electric model and certainly not its last, worth the extra cash? Or is a standard Renault 5 good enough to make it rather unnecessary?
Pros & cons of the 2025 Alpine A290 GTS
Pros: Looks great, terrific cabin, huge fun to drive, great brakes, quick enough
Cons: This version is expensive, small in the back, tight range
Irish pricing & rivals of the 2025 Alpine A290 GTS
• Base model well priced relative to Renault
• Top-spec Premiere Edition not worth the extra
• GTS model is too pricey
The Renault 5 E-Tech is one of the most well-priced electric cars on the market right now, even if it's not quite the cheapest. Thankfully, for the most part, the Alpine A290 manages not to throw that baby pricing out with the higher-performance bathwater.
Irish prices, in fact, start at an entirely reasonable €36,690, which is not an awful lot more than you'd pay for a well-specced, big-battery Renault 5.
For that, in entry-level A290 GT form, you get a 180hp electric motor with 285Nm of torque, and standard equipment includes adaptive cruise control, automatic climate control, a specific tyre spec that's different to that of the Renault and which includes direct tyre pressure monitoring, heated front seats, a six-speaker audio system with 10.1-inch touchscreen, 19-inch 'Iconic' alloy wheels, V2G charging, parking sensors and round and a rear parking camera.
The battery is, as standard, the bigger 52kWh version from the Renault 5, but because of the Alpine's extra performance and - especially - its stickier, higher-rolling-resistance tyres, the range falls from more than 400km in the Renault to 380km here.
Move up a spec to the GT Performance version, for €38,990, and you get an Alpine performance pack, high-performance tyres, an Alpine front wing logo, Alpine telemetrics system, red Brembo brake calipers and black Alpine badging.
For €39,690 there's the GT Premium, which comes with Alpine leather seats with lumbar adjust, a Devialet audio system, the Alpine sport pack, Alpine front wing logo, blue Brembo brake calipers, blue anodised roof line, a heated steering wheel and a wireless phone charger.
The we get to the GTS model, the one we're testing here, which comes with 220hp, 300Nm of torque and a range further trimmed to 360km. However, you do get essentially the same spec as the 180hp Performance model, plus utterly gorgeous 19-inch 'Snowflake' alloy wheels. The price does go up to a chunky €42,500 though.
Finally, at the top of the A290 tree, there's the Premiere Edition, which uses the same 220hp motor, and comes with a safe exit alert for the doors, Premiere Edition floor mats, blue Brembo brake calipers, blind-spot warning and intervention, auto park, a blue anodised roof rail, a French flag on the C-pillar, a numbered special-edition plate and rear cross-traffic alert and rear automatic emergency braking. You'll pay €44,700 for all that.
There's only one dealership for the Alpine A290 in Ireland at the moment - you'll find it in the Windsor MotorMall just off Dublin's M50 motorway - and you can't buy the A290 through a regular Renault dealer as there are too many bespoke parts on the Alpine.
Exterior & design of the 2025 Alpine A290 GTS
• Spotlights worth the price alone
• Fantastic 'Snowflake' alloys
• Looks less obviously retro than the Renault
The Alpine A290 is, like the Renault 5 that sired it, really rather compact. Compact, but utterly stylish. I'm not 100 per cent convinced by the 'Matte Schiste Grey' paintwork of our test car, although I guess it makes a welcome change from what is likely to be the default colour - Alpine blue.
The A290's exterior dimensions are:
Length: 3,997mm
Width: 1,823mm
Height: 1,512mm
Wheelbase: 2,534mm
The Alpine gets a distinctively more muscular body kit compared to the slim-hipped Renault version, which stops just before it becomes comically aggressive. The two outstanding exterior details, though, are the 19-inch 'Snowflake' alloy wheels (the snowflake design is meant to evoke the snowy tips of the French Alps, where this brand first strutted its rallying stuff in the 1950s) and the twin spot lamps that just up from the edge of the bonnet.
These are a near-perfect (to my eyes, anyway) modern evocation of the 'Cibies' we all used to crave for our cars in the 1980s, as much of a performance advantage as Corbeau seats and rally zebra stripes. Now, these spotlights don't actually give you any extra visibility - the main LED beams are more than bright enough as it is - and are really just there to add an extra element to the daytime running light signature, but for me they're the ultimate 1980s homage and give the Alpine A290 an edge of cool that no other current hot hatch has. These spots make the car and give it a character that's very different to that of the retro-look Renault.
The imitation vents stamped into the rear doors I could live without, but the rest of the body kit works well, even if it's a bit wide at the base of the doors, forcing you to step in and out with a bit more of a stretch than is ideal.
Interior, practicality, tech & comfort of the 2025 Alpine A290 GTS
• Lifts lots from the Renault 5
• Decent quality, great seats
• Tight rear space
To absolutely no-one's surprise, the Alpine A290 lifts a lot of its cabin from the Renault 5. Practically all of it, really. Thankfully, that's in no way a bad thing, and so you get the same twin digital displays for instruments and infotainment, and the same entirely sensible retention of a bank of physical switches under the 10.1-inch touchscreen which give you quick access to the likes of cabin temperature, defrosting etc.
The touchscreen runs on Google-based software, so it's slick and responsive, and sensibly laid-out. It comes with an Alpine-specific telemetry system which records your driving, allows you to recall information on specific journeys, and which can act as a driving coach. The integrated Google Maps is probably of more use to more people of course.
Below the screen, the physical buttons and a pair of air vents, there's an open storage space with a wireless phone charger and two USB-C sockets, and then as you work from there backwards along the centre console, you come to the drive selector.
Unlike the Renault 5, which uses a column-mounted selector, the A290 has the push-button setup from the A110 sports car, and while it works fine, it does rob you of a couple of cupholders. There is some storage under the armrest, but oddment space is definitely at a bit of a premium, and coffee lovers won't like the lack of cup stowage on the move.
There's an Alpine-specific instrument display layout, which looks fine, but which lacks a bit of sophistication. Why not just bring over the same digital dials as you get in the A110? They work really well.
The steering wheel is unique to the A290 and is said to be inspired by the brand's F1 experience but given the parlous performance of the Alpine team this year, we honestly wouldn't be shouting about that.
It's a good wheel, though. Chunky in all the right places, with an Alpine stylised 'A' in the centre, some handy buttons for the cruise control and phone, and a pair of round 'satellite' controls hanging off the spokes. One of these marked “RCH”, the most tactile, alters the amount of regenerative braking that the A290 deploys, and is as good to touch and use as Ferrari's vaunted Manettino control.
The other is a simple push-button which looks after the selectable driving modes, and I can't help but feel these should have been reversed, with the more tactile and satisfying switch doing the driving mode bit.
There's also a bright red button, above the right-hand spoke of the wheel, marked “OV”, which is a push-to-pass overtaking button. Press it and you get a burst of maximum acceleration, as long as you're not in the Eco driving mode. Push the accelerator pedal all the way down and the effect is essentially the same, but it's a neat bit of motorsport-inspired theatre.
The front seats are high-backed bucket items, which in our test car came in a deep blue leather with pale piping. They're fantastically comfy and supportive, with just a touch of French-car squidge.
The back seats are less satisfactory, offering limited legroom and only OK headroom. If tall people are in the front, they'll have to slide forward a bit to fit anyone in the back seats in anything approaching reasonable comfort. This is the price you pay for having such a wonderfully compact car to begin with. Who buys an Alpine-branded hot hatch and expects it to have room for all the family?
The boot is likewise small and loses 26 litres to the sub-woofer for the (excellent) Devialet stereo system, but it's decent enough, at 300 litres, for a car of this size.
Performance of the 2025 Alpine A290 GTS on Irish roads
• Plenty rapid enough
• Lacks the immediate performance of some EVs
• Terrific steering and brakes
This is where some commentators seem to have a problem with the A290, saying that it's not enough of an advance over the standard Renault 5 when it comes to its dynamic repertoire. Rubbish we say - this is a terrific little hot hatch, and having driven both cars back-to-back, I can say that the steering of the A290 feels livelier and more talkative than that of the Renault 5.
That steering is the key to the A290's appeal, as this is a rare electric performance car that's absolutely not about eyeball-squishing acceleration. In fact, with a 6.4-second 0-100km/h time (that's one second faster than the 180hp version of the A290 manages) this 220hp GTS is merely brisk, rather than insanely fast.
Which is a good thing. Far too many performance EVs concentrate entirely on those super-fast acceleration times, which you'll enjoy for the first couple of instances you use them, and then realise pretty quickly that you feel a bit queasy and all of your family is yelling at you to stop.
What the Alpine does is remember that few, if any, of its great hot hatch predecessors were all about their power outputs, but they were absolutely all about how they felt, and made you feel, on a tight and twisty road.
That's where the A290's brilliant steering comes into play, as does its bespoke suspension and its sticky Michelins. Those tyres might rob you of some range, but on the right road, you simply won't care. The A290 feels agile and biddable, but also rock-solid secure. It is a fantastically engaging and enjoyable companion on a challenging stretch of tarmac, and one that I don't think you'd get tired of driving.
The synthesised engine noises aren't much good (though you can turn them off) but the brakes are brilliant, with great feel and dexterity. Alpine says that they're the same brakes as on the A110 sports car, which is quite the claim.
The A290's ride is pretty firm on those big, wide 19-inch tyres, but not excessively so and the body control when you're pressing on is excellent.
Quite how the A290 will, eventually, be rated against is great French hot hatch peers - Clio Williams, 205 GTi, 106 GTi, Visa GTi - is for history to decide, but at no point during my time with the Alpine did I reach the end of a journey and not immediately want to turn around and start again. That has to be good, right?
Running costs, charging and range of the 2025 Alpine A290 GTS
• 250km useable range
• High energy consumption
• Charging speeds are fine
The Renault 5 really impressed us with its energy efficiency, averaging 15kWh/100km even when battered up and down the motorway and taking my usual Dublin-Belfast run in its stride. Not so the A290, which recorded a much less impressive 20kWh/100km during my time with it.
That limits your driving range fairly significantly. A 360km range is useable if it's accurate, but in my time with the A290, that range was more like 250km at best, and occasionally it dipped below 200km. Which is not great.
True, my choice of roads (lots of twisty mountainous ones) and my driving style ('enthusiastic') will have played a significant role in all of that, and if you're being a bit gentler, you should do better. Still, with its performance-oriented tyres, and its less impressive aerodynamic performance at motorway speeds, not to mention the extra power, it's little wonder that the A290 is more compromised in its range than the Renault 5.
Peak DC charging of 100kW doesn't sound all that good when some EVs are now offering north of 400kW, but given Ireland's relative lack of truly fast chargers, it doesn't really hold the A290 back all that much. And as ever, most EV owners do most of their charging up at home anyway, to keep fuel costs down.
One concern is the singular dealer issue. You can't get an A290 serviced at a Renault dealer - as mentioned, there are too many bespoke bits - so if you don't live in the capital, you'll have to trek to Dublin at least once a year for servicing, which for some is going to be an inconvenience.
Verdict - should you buy the 2025 Alpine A290 GTS?
Oh good heavens, yes. Yes, you should. If you care anything about driving, this is a watershed car. There have been fun-to-drive EVs before but the A290 combines a genuinely engaging and enjoyable driving experience with just enough practicality and efficiency to get by. A longer range would certainly help (albeit it would add to the car's weight) and it's not the roomiest, but it's enormous fun, super-stylish and a refreshing break from the norm.
FAQs about the 2025 Alpine A290
What is the difference between Alpine A290 GT and GTS?
It's mostly about power. The Alpine A290 GT has a 180hp, 285Nm electric motor, while the GTS boosts that to 220hp and 300Nm, knocking a second off the 0-100km/h time.
What is the range of the A290 GTS?
In theory an Alpine A290 GTS will go 360km between charges, but realistically you're looking at more like 250km at best.
Does the Alpine A290 have cup holders?
Nope, nary a one. The space where the Renault 5's cupholders sit has been taken up by a push-button drive selector, inspired by the A110 sports car. Hydrate before driving.
How many ISOFIX points are in an Alpine A290?
You get three sets of ISOFIX points for child seats in the Alpine A290 - one in the front passenger seat, and two in the back seats. Just bear in mind that the back seat is pretty small, so you may struggle to fit some of the bulkier rear-facing seats in there, especially with taller people in the front seats.
What is the safety rating of the Alpine A290?
Oddly, given its similarity to the Renault 5, the Alpine A290 has been given a specific Euro NCAP safety ranking. It scored four stars, with 80 per cent ratings for both adult and child occupant protection, 76 per cent for vulnerable road users and 68 per cent for its safety assistance systems. Doubtless the fact that a lot of the safety kit is reserved for higher-spec versions has cost the Alpine its fifth star. You can read the full Euro NCAP report here.
Want to know more about the Alpine A290 GTS?
If there's anything about the Alpine A290 GTS we've not covered, or you'd like help in choosing between it and other cars, you can avail of our expert advice service via the Ask Us Anything page.
