The electric Alpine A110 ‘Future’ concept makes its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

Alpine is making a fresh push into electric sports cars. At the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Renault Group brand unveiled the prototype of the electric A110, putting it through its paces on the legendary hill climb at the British event. However, Alpine is not merely announcing a new model. In fact, the A110 Future – which heralds the successor to the iconic petrol-powered A110 – is the technological manifesto for Alpine’s new era, which is set to expand not only into sports cars but also into the premium segment.

An ambitious goal inspired by the strong performance of its first electric models, the compact A290 and the A390 fastback, which saw the A110 – produced across two generations with over 35,000 units – retired, and, finally, by the brand’s increased value, which has reached one billion euros. Now Alpine is turning a new page and entering a new era with App.

The company has developed the Alpine Performance Platform app. It is not smartphone software, but rather a brand-new, scalable 800-volt architecture, which can also be adapted to multi-energy configurations to produce ICE models for markets where electric propulsion is impractical or not required, and has been developed to be multi-technology and multi-type. In fact, it is also intended for future Alpine models, which will not be limited to two-seater coupés such as the successor to the A110, which is making its debut in England. In short, App is the cornerstone of the brand’s future range, which is certain to include 2+2 coupés, convertibles and even SUVs. The latter is a model envisaged to facilitate the brand’s entry into the American market, albeit prior to the introduction of tariffs.

Furthermore, App is not only suitable for a wide variety of car types, but also for rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive (with the addition of a front electric motor) and even four-wheel steering. App will fulfil these tasks, enabling all future Alpines to showcase the defining characteristics of Alpine’s DNA in terms of driving feel and dynamism, thanks both to its lightness – in the case of the A110, a kg weight of less than 1,500 kg – and to innovative solutions and technologies, as well as to the intensive development carried out through extensive testing sessions using a simulator closely related to that used for Formula 1 single-seaters. In particular, to fine-tune the Active Torque Vectoring 2.0 and Wheel Slip Torque Control systems, ensuring high levels of reliability and agility in all driving conditions by instantly distributing drive or braking torque to each wheel, thereby optimisingtraction and minimising understeer to the absolute minimum.

The first Alpine of the new era is not only based on the App architecture – which is also used for the Renault 5 Turbo 3E – but is also made from extruded aluminium and assembled using’innovative bonding and riveting technology to ensure structural rigidity, and features a layout that achieves a 40:60 weight distribution by specifically positioning the battery pack modules across two levels, housed in high-pressure die-cast aluminium casings that contribute directly to the vehicle’s structural rigidity. This solution also allows for a low centre of gravity, a low-slung driving position and the creation of a coupé standing 1.24 metres tall, like the current A110, with a similar silhouette.