Alpine A290 GTS 2025 review – is the Renault 5 relative a true hot hatch?

Few new EVs have been as hotly anticipated as the Alpine A290, the high-performance twin to the new Renault 5. When we drove the regular R5 earlier this month we came away impressed, finding it not only an appealing and usable electric hatch but engaging to drive, too. If the A290 can add some extra dynamic magic to the 5’s want-one design charm, it could be a formidable package. And perhaps the first mainstream, relatively affordable EV with real appeal to petrolheads.

It’s an important car for Alpine, too. If the Renault sub-brand is to become a cost-effective contributor to the wider Renault Group, it needs to sell cars in far greater numbers than the brilliant but too-niche-for-profitability A110 sports car, and the A290 is its first true volume product. Pricing is yet to be confirmed for both the R5 and the A290, but whereas the Renault is expected to start from around £23,000 and top out below £30k for the top trim level and biggest battery option, it’s estimated that the A290 will start from around £33k for the entry-level GT trim, rising above £36k for the plusher GT Premium and £38k for the GTS range-topper driven here. The GT and GT Premium versions are powered by a 178bhp motor; the GTS has the same motor but wound up to 217bhp. Like the Renault 5, it’s front-wheel-drive; an all-wheel-drive version would probably have inflated the cost and the weight too far beyond a viable business case, and changed the car’s character.  All A290 variants are powered by the same 52kWh battery.

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The A290 will be followed by further all-electric Alpines: the A390 sports crossover due for launch in 2025, and a sports car successor to the A110. They’ll be bespoke platform builds and won’t be twinned with Renault models: the A290 is the only new Alpine model that will be built on a Renault platform.

A skateboard-style chassis with the battery pack mounted in the floor, the AmpR platform also features a multi-link rear suspension layout rather than the torsion-beam set-up common to many superminis. The A290 also gets a whole new front end with its own aluminium subframe to mount its bespoke springs and dampers to, and hydraulic bump-stops all round. It’s a full 60mm wider than the R5 (which also makes it 60mm wider than an old Clio 197, incidentally), for a significantly wider footprint and sits on 19-inch wheels (with a choice of two designs, and three specifically designed Michelin tyres). The electric motor’s calibration differs from the R5’s, too, with the driving modes, regen behaviour and torque management all developed independently from those of the Renault. The brakes are also different, with front calipers taken from the A110.

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And there’s the styling, of course, with the broad sills (which also do an effective job of disguising the skateboard platform’s height) and X-motif light pods. Right now, they’re cutting through mist as we head into hill roads snaking through a rocky landscape. Although narrow, the roads here are smooth, which shows the ride quality in the best possible light. Nonetheless, the way the A290 rides is impressive. It corners with a flat stance, and not much in the way of roll, but maintains a supple ride. It feels a little firm at times over small ridges and bumps, but it is a hot hatch after all, and you sense that its overall suppleness here in Majorca will translate well to mainland UK roads. The multi-link rear suspension and hydraulic bump stops contribute to the A290’s excellent wheel control adding genuine precision.

The brake-by-wire system blends the regular brakes and regenerative braking from the motor. Its aim is for the two to feel seamless, and subjectively it achieves that goal pretty well; pedal feel is consistent and stopping power reassuring. A toggle switch on the steering wheel allows you to select three levels of regen. The lightest is modelled on the engine braking generated from the A110’s turbocharged four-cylinder engine; the heaviest is closer to the one-pedal drive mode seen in other EVs, although far less extreme than most. There is a fourth setting: to switch the regen off completely and, unless you’re travelling downhill, Alpine’s engineers say that’s actually the most energy-efficient mode of all.

There’s a further button on the wheel: an ‘OV’ button, for ‘overtake’ – so named after the similar switch on the steering wheel in Alpine’s F1 cars. It doesn’t actually give you any extra power – instead it ramps the accelerator map more swiftly to 100 per cent. Push it while your foot is already at the stop, and nothing happens; push it while you’re travelling along on a gentle ‘throttle opening’ and the car shoots forward abruptly (almost disconcertingly so). 

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You have to hold the button down to maintain the OV map; let go and it reverts to its regular setting. It’s a fun talking point but ultimately feels more of a gimmick than a useful tool.

There are multiple driving modes, accessed by another control on the wheel: Normal, Sport, Save (to conserve the battery level as best as possible) and Personal, to mix and match settings for the accelerator map, power steering weight and the piped-in sound which rises with speed (based on frequencies from the electric motor itself, rather than a synthesised engine note). The drive mode switch is shaped like a rotary clickwheel but is actually a push button, which is a little frustrating to operate. You have to cycle through the modes one by one, and if you accidentally double-press you must go back to the beginning. 

Steering feel is a subjective thing but here it is a little overly light for my tastes in both Normal and Sport mode; however, an important part of the A290’s remit is to be a car at home in the city as much as on country roads. Under hard acceleration, there’s a bit of torque-steer through the wheel but it’s easily controlled. Alpine has carefully tuned the torque delivery of the motor’s 221lb ft so as to avoid it feeling too abrupt.

Our GTS model’s 217bhp output has 1479kg (hardly lightweight but moderately trim for an EV) to move and it makes the A290 feel swift rather than fast. It has a grippy feel - this test car is fitted with Michelin’s Pilot Sport 5 S tyres, specially developed for the A290 with ‘A29’ type markings - a four-square stance and a neutral handling balance. 

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All the more so on the Llucmajor circuit where its lateral and longitudinal stability, and braking performance are truly impressive. It can be a playful car, too; accelerate into a corner and lift from the throttle and it pivots into lift-off oversteer in the manner of a traditional hot hatch. There is no limited-slip differential, instead the A290 uses torque vectoring by braking and this works well enough for the car’s level of power. It hooks up nicely out of the slower hairpins and avoids pushing its nose wide under power, even when a wheel is unloaded over a kerb.

The A290’s overall feel, however, is of a warm hatch rather than a hot hatch. It’s less edgy and eager than Renault Sport hatches of old, and you sense some drivers may crave something a little more exhilarating. There’s nothing wrong with the way the A290 drives: its balance is superb (aided by the low centre of gravity and 53:47 front:rear weight distribution), and Alpine’s approach to make it a car that drives in an uncomplicated way, and largely in the manner of a traditional petrol hatchback, is a likeable one. There’s just something indefinable that’s missing from the experience in terms of excitement and engagement, and it’s not just the presence of a petrol engine, or a more potent power-to-weight ratio. Somehow I found myself craving a little more feel and feedback from the A290 on a winding road, and a more eager edge to its on-road dynamics.

This car’s aim, however, is to appeal to a wide range of customers, many of whom will be new to the Alpine brand and perhaps new to EVs, too. Its sense of style, easy driving manners in urban quarters and tidy handling further afield gives it the broad, smooth-edged remit it needs to fit its brief. Harder-edged variants haven’t been ruled out and may follow in the future. In the meantime, there’s a lot to like here.

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Price and rivals

Although prices are yet to be fully confirmed, we can expect the A290 to start from a little over £33,000, stretching to around £38,000 for the top GTS variant. There’s also a Premier Edition launch special, limited to 1955 cars, expected to retail for around £39,000, with a choice of four special colours and liveries. Orders open early in 2025, with deliveries expected in spring.

Natural rivals are scarce: there aren’t many electric hot hatches out there at the moment. One that Alpine UK namechecks directly is the new electric Mini Cooper, which starts from £30,000. Our experience of both cars in isolation suggests the Alpine is more dynamically well resolved than the Mini.

The A290 is a more characterful and enjoyable car than the VW ID.3 GTX, and its Cupra Born sister car. A closer match for character is the Abarth 500e, which starts from £31,195 and generates less power and torque than the Alpine.

Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 N remains the most exciting electric performance hatchback we’ve driven, but it’s a different car: bigger (closer to an SUV in size than a hatchback), much more expensive - with a price in the £60k bracket - and much more potent. It uses its twin-motor, all-wheel-drive powertrain in a different way to the front-driven Alpine, and its simulated gearchanges, ‘engine’ noises and drift mode make it a different proposition.

You could argue the Alpine A290’s biggest rival is the Renault 5 on which it is based, which packs plenty of design appeal for less cash, and for some buyers, may offer engagement enough.

You can read a more in-depth review of the new Alpine A290 in the next issue of evo magazine, on sale December 4 2024.

Alpine A290 GTS specs