Alpine shares more details on its performance EV trio

Alpine has confirmed fresh details on the trio of electric models it teased just last week.

Now in development ahead of their arrival in about three years, the three EVs include a coupe-style SUV, a two-door sports car co-developed with Lotus to replace the current Alpine A110 coupe and a hot hatch based on the born-again Renault 5.

The as-yet-unnamed Alpine EVs will become the poster children for the Renault-owned sportscar-maker, which has replaced its sister brand in Formula 1, as it transitions to a pure-electric brand from 2024.

Speaking to the UK’s AutoExpress following Renault’s recent EV tech presentation, the company’s executive vice-president for engineering, Gilles le Borgne, said the warmed-up version of the re-born Renault 5 hatch would be powered by a single front-mounted electric motor producing about 160kW.

Depending on weight and gearing, that could result in 0-100km/h acceleration of around six seconds, making the small ‘R5 Alpine’ EV a pukka hot hatch.

According to AutoExpress, a larger 52kWh battery should deliver a driving range “north of 200 miles” (322km).

Based on Renault’s CMF-BEV platform, which shares many components with the CMF-B platform that underpins the current Clio, the electric hatch will likely  incorporate MacPherson strut suspension up front but a multi-link set-up at the rear.

Le Borgne said the more powerful motor from the upcoming Renault Megane E-Tech Electric SUV will fit into the hot hatch, but it will feature wider wheel tracks “because it’ll be a more sporty look on the R5 Alpine”.

He also revealed further details about Alpine’s first SUV, which will be underpinned by the CMF-EV platform, confirming it will incorporate a multiple-motor configuration to provide more performance and agile handling.

“For the CMF-EV platform we will keep the 215bhp e-motor in the front,” he said. “And in the rear we will have a big surprise. We want to do torque vectoring, have really amazing handling and performance – as you can imagine, for an Alpine. We are working on that.”

Renault’s engineering chief said there are “no current plans” to offer the mid-size crossover’s dual-motor configuration in the Alpine hot hatchback.

Few details were revealed about Alpine’s third EV project, the two-door sports car to replace the mid-engined A110.

Le Borgne said work on the new Alpine coupe is ongoing with Lotus and “progressing quite well”, but declined to provide any further information.

Alpine has confirmed its first EV will debut in 2024 – around the same time the Renault 5 is set to be unveiled – and has released two teaser images of the trio of EVs it is calling the ‘dream garage’.