Presentation of the Alpine A390: electric car breaks with tradition
Alpine is breaking new ground with the A390: the weighty SUV coupé gets a powerful electric drive. Torque vectoring is possible with three motors.
(Image: Alpine)
- Stefan Grundhoff
Alpine, a French brand owned by Renault since 1973, has always stood for exclusive and quite sporty cars. Especially recently, as in the early days of the company, this was also associated with lightweight construction. The A390 breaks new ground as a battery-electric SUV coupé, at least for the Alpine brand.
Efforts were made to minimize the impact of the battery weight and enhance the feeling of lightness. The A390 should appear as fast and agile as the A110. Whether the developers were successful in this remains to be seen. The company has certainly not spared any effort. The heavy 89 kWh battery sits at the bottom center of the A390. Three electric motors, one of which is on the front axle, enable active torque vectoring. With this intervention in the torque distribution, Alpine aims to prevent understeer and oversteer. The aim is to achieve the most neutral handling possible.
Alpine A390 Exterieur (8 Bilder)
Alpine
)3.9 seconds in the standard sprint
The aim of an agile car is unlikely to fail in terms of propulsion, but in times of seemingly limitless performance development, it is becoming increasingly difficult to stand out in this respect. The base model A390 GT already has 294 kW, in the A390 GTS it is 345, enabling the SUV to reach 200 and 220 km/h respectively. In the top-of-the-range model, the standard sprint should be achieved in 3.9 seconds. As with the similarly sized and similarly fast Smart #5 Brabus, it is important to realize from time to time what kind of vehicle format is being pushed. With a length of 4.61 m and an unladen weight of more than two tons, the E-SUV is anything but dainty.
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Up to 550 km range
Elsewhere, Alpine is not vying for a top position. It remains at a voltage level of 400 volts, with a maximum charging power of 190 kW. The usual 11 kW of alternating current is possible as standard, but 22 kW is also available for an extra charge. In the WLTP, Alpine promises ranges of between 520 and 550 km – depending on the wheelset fitted. The battery pack itself is supplied by French manufacturer Verkor, which promises to have adapted the cooling system, the water flow and the cell chemistry with a higher nickel content to the increased requirements of the A390 series.
Alpine A390 Interieur (4 Bilder)
Alpine
)The interior is very reminiscent of current Renault models. Google contributes the infotainment system and, unlike BMW, the instrument cluster can still display round instruments. If you like, you can order things like a Devialet sound system or electrically adjustable leather seats with massage. For those who long for the old days, Alpine also offers the opportunity to have an artificial engine sound faded in via the 13 loudspeakers. With the competition, the best thing about this synthetic drone is that you can turn it off. Will Alpine be able to do it more convincingly?
(mack)