ALPINE A390

Electric crossover is supposed to be an A110 for five. That's a tough ask

- ILLYA VERPRAET

Alpine, in its 21st-century incarnation at least, is still a young brand, but it's quickly growing up. The first step in the masterplan was to make us all take notice with a sports car: the brilliant A110. Then it came up with something more attainable: the A290 hot hatchback. Now it needs a car for all the family to enjoy. That'll be the new A390.

Because it’s 2025, that means it’s electric, and because the batteries need to go in the floor, it’s crossover-shaped. But stick with us, because this isn’t one of those slightly limp Esprit Alpine versions of a Renault: it’s a completely stand-alone Alpine model with a special trick up its sleeve - or rather three of them.

Like the Tesla Model S Plaid and Maserati Granturismo Folgore, the A390 has three motors - one at the front, two at the back. That lets it do proper torque vectoring: rather than just brake an inside wheel to encourage the car to turn in, it can overspeed the outside rear. This is electric performance cars coming of age and trying stuff that has no analogue in combustion-engined cars.

Deep down, the A390 is related to the Renault Scenic E-Tech, but it isn’t just a Scenic with a sloping roof. Even through the camouflage, you can see this is a distinct car. It even has a shorter wheelbase. The battery is different too. Alpine isn’t releasing battery capacity or output figures yet, but it’s designed to be able to support the three motors' power outputs.