PARIS MOTOR SHOW: Wild Alpine Alpenglow is a hydrogen-burning hypercar

The wild Alpine Alpenglow hypercar concept has made its world debut at the Paris motor show and it’s said to blend both the French performance brand’s next-gen design language with its latest zero-emission powertrain technology.

Said to draw direct inspiration from the Renault sister brand’s involvement in both Formula 1 and the World Endurance Championship, the racy single-seat hypercar follows on from the student-led Alpine A4810, although this time instead of being powered by a hydrogen fuel-cell the advanced Alpenglow uses a combustion engine adapted to burn hydrogen.

Measuring in at more than five metres long and two metres wide, but standing only a metre tall, Alpine claims the Alpenglow’s open-wheel design with wrap-around fenders pays tribute to both modern racers and the A220 race cars from the 1960s.

Full details have yet to be revealed but the rear-mounted engine is expected to produce epic power and is thought to be fed by a pair of huge 100-litre fuel tanks that flank the centrally-mounted driver for optimum weight distribution.

Despite the twin 700-bar cylindrical tanks and a body made completely out of recycled carbon-fibre, the kerb weight of the Alpenglow is said to be a remarkable 1000-1200kg – around the same mass as the current Alpine A110 coupe.

Alpine says the advantage of burning hydrogen, instead of using it to produce electricity via a fuel-cell, is that it continues to employ a combustion engine that produces the kind of noise and involvement missing from many EVs.

And, as with an FCEV, the only emission is water vapour.

Sadly, the Alpenglow – which took just five months to create, rather than the 10-12 months normally required to produce most concept cars – has little or no chance of ever becoming available to the public.

Instead, it was created to unite the newly formed 30-strong team of designers that are currently developing Alpine’s future design direction.

Some of the design takeaways that are expected to reappear on future Alpine models include both the front light bar and the vertically-stacked tail-lights.

Inside, the LMP1-style steering wheel is tipped to feature in the all-electric replacement for the A110 coupe.

Some design elements of the Alpenglow, which was developed alongside the Alpine racer that will compete in the emerging LMdh prototype race class, may also appear in the French car-maker’s Le Mans contender.

Despite Alpine’s enthusiasm for hydrogen power, a senior Renault executive at the Paris show told carsales that the zero-emissions fuel would be developed first for the brand’s commercial vehicles, not sports cars.

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