Alpine A290 GTS

The new electric Renault 5 has won plenty of plaudits. Is the hotter Alpine version a car to win petrolheads' hearts too?

-  JAMES TAYLOR

WE'RE HEADING NORTH ON RURAL ROADS out of Palma when, of all things, a classic Renault 4 emerges through the early morning gloom in the opposite direction. It takes me a moment to realise why its driver is flashing his headlights and gesticulating. My natural instinct is to panic - have I done something wrong? Then I see his grin and remember: I'm driving the French hatchback of the moment.

The car of the moment in many ways; few new EVs have been as hotly anticipated as the Alpine A290, the high-performance twin to the new Renault 5. When Antony Ingram drove the R5 at its launch (evo 328) he came away impressed finding it not only an appealing and useable electric hatch but relatively rewarding to drive, too. If the A290 can add some extra dynamic magic to the 5's want-one design charm, it could be a formidable package. And perhaps the first mainstream, relatively affordable EV with real appeal to petrolheads.