Alpine A290 review: The return of the hot hatchback?

As forward-thinking and innovative the world of electric cars is, you can't help but think it can be devoid of charm.

Large SUVs and saloon cars costing a significant amount of money are interspersed with superminis that also cost too much for a lot of people. Oh, and whatever happened to an involved drive?

The new Alpine A290 has arrived promising to change this. It laughs in the face of the status quo with its rally-style daytime running lights, striking 19in alloys, F1-inspired steering wheel and side air vents.

Under the skin, it is almost identical to the Renault 5 on which it is based, but as we'll see, it is one of few electric cars on the market that talks to the enthusiast.

Along with the Renault 5, the A290 is one of the first electric cars to be based on Renault Group's AMPR platform. This means it uses the same 52kWh battery pack as the Renault, which is good for an electric range of 226 miles and a claimed energy efficiency of 3.76mpkWh. In the real world, we reckon you would see 180 miles in daily driving.

It's also a usefully compact car, at 3.99m long and 1.52m high, and 1.82m wide across the body. Overhangs are relatively tight too, with a 2.53m wheelbase.

You are going to be able to buy the A290 with two power outputs: 178bhp and 217bhp, the latter of which is the subject of this test. These power figures come courtesy of a single front-mounted electric motor, and mean the fastest version has a claimed 0-62mph time of 6.4sec, while the 178bhp car does it in 7.4sec. 

Since both cars are mechanically the same, which means it’s all to do with software.

The response given by the electric motors is generous, authoritative and evenly metered out. What's more, you get as much of it as you want all the time. Enough, in fact, that the 221lb ft of torque on offer will be felt through the steering wheel with torque steer if you're halfway through a corner and the road is anything other than smooth.

You can configure the sort of noise emanating from the speakers via two sound profiles. They don't mimic the noise of a combustion engine like an Abarth, and nor do they imitate gear changes like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N.

The car is suspended by struts at the front and a multi-link setup at the rear, much like the Renault 5, but there are bespoke elements to the Alpine. These include springs and dampers, of course, but also anti-roll bars, hydraulic bump stops and an aluminium front subframe which also positions the motor differently to the 5.

Its brakes, meanwhile, are by chunky 320mm discs at the front and 288mm discs at the rear, while the fronts have the same callipers as the A110.

On the road, all of this underfloor engineering translates to a competent, playful and grippy companion for a winding road. The ride is relatively calm, treading a line somewhere between that of an Abarth 500, which is tied-down comically, and an Ioniq 5 N, which rides more flatly but is also considerably bigger, more expensive and around 700kg heavier.

To assist turn-in, it can brake an inside rear wheel. This makes it feel more agile and, combined with the low centre of gravity, means you have a planted and secure car for twisty roads.

The steering is relatively light but still accurate and predictable, and while you don’t get loads of feel at road speeds, it does offer some kind of mechanical interaction because it’s tugged around under power; not uncontrollably so, however.

On a track, the story is more of the same. If you lift off the throttle mid-corner, you can feel the weight shuffling around, trailing the brakes into a bend will engage the back wheels and, if you want to enter a corner with some opposite lock, you can do it with some weight transfer by giving it more power.

At this point, we should probably talk about the A290's interior. As is available on the standard Renault 5, you can have a large touchscreen running a Google-based user interface that is pretty intuitive to use. It is, of course, helpful that the climate functions, the door locks, driving assistance switches, lights, and stability control buttons are all separate and physical.

You also get some Alpine-specific functions on the touchscreen. These include a G-meter, a 0-62mph measurer, and tutorials on how to get the best lift-off oversteer around a given corner.

From a practical perspective, having five doors is always a bonus but the boot is only average for the class, at 326 litres. Another problem we have is that there are no cupholders, because they have been replaced by a gear change.

Aside from these complaints, however, the A290 is an electric hot hatchback that picks up where the old, combustion-powered RenaultSport cars left off. It might not be priced like those older cars - it will cost from around £35,000 - but its capability, adjustability and seriousness to its performance and handling make you wonder why you would buy a car like the Abarth 500e.