Yahoo Autos Alpine reveals electric A290_β concept electric hot hatch
Renault-owned Alpine previewed how it will jump back into the hot hatch segment by unveiling an electric concept car called A290_β. Mostly futuristic but a little bit retro, the design study is closely related to the Renault 5 Prototype also introduced as a concept in 2021.
Wide, low, and muscular-looking, the A290_β (a name pronounced "A290 beta" and chosen to underline the hatchback's status as a show car) brings the spirit of the Renault 5 Alpine, one of the first hot hatches, into the 21st century. It's visibly based on the 5 Prototype, the two concept share their basic proportions and several styling cues, but it gains racing-inspired features including a body kit, center-locking wheels and an extra pair of lights on the front end. We hope you like what you see: Alpine notes that the concept "looks like the production model."
It's a different story inside, where the A290_β features a McLaren F1-like one-plus-two seating layout that places the driver front and center. Sitting on a narrow, heavily-bolstered seat you'd expect to find in a race car, the driver faces a three-spoke steering wheel with a futuristic design and a small instrument cluster. There are a handful of rather odd airplane-inspired touches, like "no step on wing" on the dashboard. Alpine readily admits that the interior is "much more conceptual" than the exterior, and we don't expect any of it will reach production as-is.
