All-electric Alpine A110 E-Ternité convertible unveiled

Alpine has announced it will mark its 60th anniversary with an all-electric Alpine A110 E-Ternité convertible that it will debut this weekend at the French Formula 1 GP.

On the eve of its transition to becoming a full EV brand, the A110 E-Ternité is claimed by the Renault-owned car-maker to link Alpine's “prestigious past” to a 100 per cent electric future.

Said to borrow its 60kWh lithium-ion battery from the latest Renault Megane E-Tech, the Alpine A110 is claimed to only weight 258kg more than the combustion-powered versions, providing an impressive 440km range.

Driving the Alpine A110 E-Ternité is a rear-mounted motor that, again, has been lifted from the Megane E-Tech. In the small targa-roofed sports car it produces 178kW and 300Nm of torque.

Performance is almost on par with the 215kW 1.8-litre turbo four-cylinder A110 with the battery-powered prototype capable of a 0-100km/h sprint time of 4.5 seconds, versus 4.4sec for the petrol-powered variant, while top speed is 250km/h – just 10km/h off its fossil-fuelled sibling.

The secret to the sprightly acceleration and a relatively high top speed (for an EV) is a new two-speed dual-clutch transmission in place of the combustion version's seven-speed DCT auto, still channeling power to the rear wheels.

To package the Alpine A110 E-Ternité’s new pure-electric powertrain, the Megane E-Tech's battery pack's 12 modules have been split up, with four positioned at the front of the car and eight packaged towards the rear.

This sees the small electric sportscar almost match the ICE version's 43/57 front/rear weight distribution with a 42/58 split.

Like the standard car, there's double-wishbone suspension all-round but the heavier all-electric version features reinforced lower rear arms and stiffer springs combined with a softer anti-roll bars to maintain a supple ride.

The prototype also features new Öhlins dampers although the standard car's 18-inch wheels with 215/40 front and 245/40 rear tyres carry over unchanged.

Other changes for the zero-emissions prototype include a new infotainment system and stereo, plus a removable recycled carbon-fibre roof panel that's claimed to not affect body rigidity.

The second prototype is said to use a panel constructed from flax, which matches carbon-fibre for strength but is said to have better acoustic properties.

Alpine says it has built two A110 E-Ternité prototypes, one car to demonstrate the new materials employed, the other for further R&D work.

It's the latter that suggests that an ultra-limited run of A110 E-Ternités could be sold in the future to showcase what's to come from the car-maker's next-generation sports car line-up, which is currently being developed with Lotus.

The carbon-fibre roof is also rumoured to be in the pipeline for production while the new infotainment and sound system should be introduced shortly in Europe.

Sadly, for those who fancy an updated A110, or even a convertible take on the French Porsche 718 Boxster/Cayman rival, there's little chance it will ever return to Australia.

Back in late 2021 it was dropped because it didn't meet new ADR side-impact crash rules Down Under – not that it was ever a big seller here, finding just 83 buyers since 2018.

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