Yahoo Autos Alpine A290 electric hot hatch begins the quest for mainstream success
In May 2023, Renault-owned Alpine previewed its return to the hot hatch segment by unveiling an electric concept car called the A290_β (pronounced "A290 beta," underlining the hatchback's status as a show car). Mostly futuristic but a little bit retro, the design study was closely related to the Renault 5 Prototype concept from 2021. A month later, Alpine announced a major model offensive with an image of an "Alpine Garage" arraying a range of seven new cars due on the market by 2030 that would put the automaker in mainstream segments for the first time in its 69-year history. Here's the first, the production A290, an electric hot hatch whirring to market in a limited-build Premiere Edition, plus serial production GT, GT Premium, GT Performance, and GTS trims.
A single motor on the front axle delivers an instant 221 pound-feet of torque in all trims. That motor in the GT and GT Premium has been tuned for 177 horsepower, or for 215 hp in the GT Performance and GTS trims; however, as we see more and more nowadays, a driver needs to engage a special function to release every bit of power. In this case it's the Overtake button on the steering wheel, a countdown timer in the digital gauge cluster displaying how long is left in the 10-second spurt. The four-door comes in at a claimed 3,261 pounds, its more powerful trims getting from zero to 62 miles per hour in 6.4 seconds, about two-tenths behind the new ICE-powered Volkswagen GTI. Going the other way, a RCH button on the steering wheel cycles through four regen levels.
