Philippe Krief isn’t mincing words. He claims the new electric A110 won’t just match the old petrol model. It will beat it. Everywhere.
Alpine’s boss says the upcoming two-seater will be better in every measurable aspect.
“First of all, it has a to be a sports car… so it must be fun to drove.”
Ambitious. Sure. But Alpine is backing it with metal and silicon. We saw a hint last year at Goodwood. The A110 Future. A mule, basically, climbing a hill in broad daylight. Under that familiar skin lay something entirely new. The Alpine Performance Platform.
Here’s the trick. Most EVs pile a massive battery under the floor. Heavy. High center of gravity. Boring handling physics. Alpine said no.
Instead. Two smaller packs. One at the front. One at the back.
The car sits lower. The weight is balanced. The chassis behaves like a real sports car rather than a grocery getter on wheels.
Krief admitted the new shape is marginally wider and longer than its predecessor. But the ratio of length to height? Identical. Visual purity remains intact.
So what’s the actual job?
The brief was brutal. Beat the current A110 in the one area it nailed. The feeling of lightness. It has to feel airy. Agile. Alive.
95% of parts are brand new. No cheap shared components from the rest of the Renault Group. This isn’t a rebadge. It’s a fresh start.
Then comes the stress test. Krief cited a specific endurance metric. Lap a circuit. Maximum speed. Maximum lateral g-forces. Keep it going for twenty minutes.
Most EVs thermal management fails before you hit minute three. Alpine wants it to go for twenty.
Is that possible with batteries?
Probably. Maybe. Time will tell. The car drops next year. Until then, we just have Krief’s promises and a camouflaged prototype running uphill in West Sussex.
