Alpine A290 Review 2025

Reports of the hot hatch’s death are greatly exaggerated it seems. Okay, there’s no escaping the fact that there are fewer of them to choose from now than in their 1980s and 1990s heydays, but new ones are still being launched — albeit fit for the electric age. One of the latest to go on sale is the Alpine A290.

If your first thought upon seeing the Alpine A290 is ‘hang on, isn’t that a hench Renault 5 E-Tech?’ then yes, it is! Styling-wise the workout’s paid dividends with muscular bodywork that bulges around the larger 19-inch alloy wheels, complete with sculpting on the back doors to mimic air intake vents on the classic, mid-engined Renault 5 Turbo and Clio Renaultsport V6.

More aggressive bumpers, X-shaped daytime-running light graphics set into square modules sat beside the headlights ape taped-up spot lights of Alpine’s racing and rallying heritage, while inside there’s a darker, sportier theme to the dashboard that’s otherwise essentially the same as the R5 E-Tech’s.

One potential hurdle within the UK market is a lack of familiarity with the Alpine name aside from with top-level motorsport followers and those who’d recognise the excellent A110 coupe. Although sportier versions of the original Renault 5 were labelled Alpine, copyright prevented its use on these shores so the Gordini name was employed instead.

Regardless of brand awareness, all of the Alpine’s visual accoutrements are rather meaningless if the A290 isn’t blessed with additional performance over and above what’s available in the Renault version — with a choice of two electric options this feisty little hatchback doesn’t disappoint.

Both the £33,500 A290 GT and £36,000 GT Premium have a 180PS electric motor producing 285Nm of torque for a 7.4-second 0-62mph time and an electronically capped top speed of 99mph, restricted to help preserve driving range.

Want more? Then you’ll need to opt for the Alpine A290 GT Performance (also £36,000), GTS (£37,500) or one of the limited availability Premiere Editions (£38,000) offered from the car’s launch. Power jumps to 220PS, while torque’s gently inflated to 300Nm for a 0-62mph benchmark of 6.4 seconds. The top speed’s still governed, albeit at 105mph.

So, what are the alternatives to the joint holder — along with the Renault 5, naturally — of the 2025 European Car of the Year award? The Alpine falls between into the size and performance gap between the three-door Abarth 500e with 152PS at a smidge under £30,000 and the 240PS Abarth 600e compact SUV at almost £37,000.

The Abarth sizes are almost replicated at MINI although the both the three-door Cooper Electric hatchback and five-door Aceman SUV are closer to the Alpine A290 for both performance and price, costing from £30,120 and £31,920 respectively.

Dinkiness is on the A290's side compare with some of the other possibilities. It's a useful 30cm shorter and 350kg lighter than the entry-level 230PS version of the Cupra Born, which costs from around £35,500. The purposeful appearance of the £32,995 GWM Ora 03 GT together with its 63kWh battery may encourage some to take a second look at this former Funky Cat although it lacks the Alpine’s performance.

Arguably the most eye-catching from a performance-per-pound perspective of the Alpine A290s rivals are the jointly developed small SUV duo of the Smart #1 and its Scandi-themed cousin, the Volvo EX30. In their least expensive versions both pack a 272PS punch although their ranges are more restricted thanks to their 47kWh batteries, but price is on their side — the Smart’s yours for £31,950, the Volvo at £32,850.

While the Alpine A290 isn’t exactly a bargain — and the cheapest one’s some £4500 more than the costliest Renault 5 E-Tech — it’s competitive with the majority of the other performance-focused small EVs. The deciding factor will be whether it offers more fun.

We’ll report back on how well the Alpine A290 handles when we’ve had an opportunity to get behind its F1-inspired steering wheel, complete with switches and toggles to vary the degree of brake energy recovery, flick seamlessly between different drive modes and instantly access the motor’s maximum performance with the Overtake button.

Regardless of motor choice, all Alpine A290s have the same 52kWh battery pack that’s in the pricier Renault 5 E-Techs, with an inevitable drop-off in range courtesy of the extra performance. While in the R5 251-252 miles is the WLTP Combined cycle claim, that drops to 236 miles for the 180PS A290, with a further reduction to 226 miles for the 220PS models.

Thanks to its 100kW on-board charger the Alpine’s battery can be zipped from 15-80% charge in 30 minutes using a DC rapid chargers. Sticking with a domestic wallbox’s AC connection, a full recharge can take as little as 11 hours with an 11kW electricity supply.

Orders for the Alpine A290 opened in January 2025 with first customer deliveries expected to follow from March.

Keep this page bookmarked to read our comprehensive electric Alpine A290 review in the weeks ahead.