Sports Car Alpine Builds on Lightweight Electric Sports Cars—With Combustion Engine Option

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Alpine is building a whole family of electric sports cars based on the successor to the A110. They are supposed to be light, work on the racetrack and perhaps still smell of gasoline.

An electric sports car weighing less than 3,300 lb, designed for fast laps on the Nordschleife and with a sound that does not come from loudspeakers, but from the drive itself: The engineers at Alpine have set their sights high for the next generation of the Alpine A110. Officially, the brand is consistently focusing on electric drive. "With minor adjustments, the new platform can also accommodate a combustion engine with transmission and tank," says Alpine boss Philippe Krief. There are no concrete plans for this. However, the company is prepared for this if required. In this way, the French are leaving themselves a back door for markets in which sports cars still have to smell of gasoline.

The French subsidiary of the Renault Group wants to expand the new model into an entire sports car family. A coupé and an open-top Spider are planned for the end of 2027. A larger 2+2 sports car and a second open-top variant are to follow in 2028. All are based on the new Alpine Performance Platform, or APP for short. According to Krief, 95 percent of the parts on this architecture are new. It was specially developed for lightweight electric sports cars and will support several body variants. The models will continue to be produced at the Dieppe plant, the historical home of the brand.

Goal: Lightweight Electric Sports Cars

According to Krief, however, the most important goal is a different one. "Anyone can build a 500 or 600 hp two-seater. But achieving that with less than 3,300 lb and the right agility is a different story." Alpine wants to prove that an electric sports car does not automatically have to be heavy, despite the battery and reinforced body. For comparison: the current A110 weighs around 880 lb less, depending on the version. The French can't work magic either. Especially as the platform also has to meet the stricter US crash regulations right from the start. Nevertheless, 3,300 lb would be exceptionally low for an electric car.

The claim is reminiscent of Lotus' strategy. The British company also wants to save its lightweight DNA for the future with electric sports cars. However, Lotus is now thinking out loud again about powerful combustion engines, and the industry is even discussing V8 engines again. However, models such as the Lotus Emira show that classic sports cars with a mid-engine are still in demand. Alpine, on the other hand, is trying to fill this role with the lightest possible electric drive.

Battery With Cell-to-Body Concept

The design of the drive is correspondingly unusual. The capacity of the battery is not primarily based on the range, but on the performance on the race track. The car should be able to complete at least three fast laps of the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. Alpine is nevertheless aiming for a range of over 340 miles in normal driving mode. The larger 2+2 sports car should even manage over 370 miles.

The brand boss explains the difference with the design of the sports car: "Most manufacturers pack the battery into the car like a skateboard. We can't do that with this very sporty two-seater." Instead, the cells are distributed throughout the vehicle (cell-to-body) so that the seating position, center of gravity and proportions match those of a classic sports car. In the longer 2+2 versions, on the other hand, there is space for a larger battery in the floor.

Motor Noise from the Electric Drive

For Alpine, sound is also part of the overall emotional picture. While electric cars usually generate artificial soundscapes via loudspeakers, Alpine wants the sound to come directly from the drive and be specifically amplified. "Sound is part of the brand's DNA," says Krief. A sports car must also have an electric emotional impact.

According to CEO Krief, software is playing an increasingly important role in this. "The time when you could tune a road car using the chassis and mechanics alone is over," says Krief. In future, electronic control systems and intelligent drive control will be decisive for how a sports car feels.

Alpine Enters New Markets—Focus on the USA

But Alpine is to be more than just a small sports car brand in the future. Within the Group, the brand is increasingly becoming a center for performance technology. One example of this is the Renault 5 Turbo 3E. The extremely wide electric sports car with wheel hub motors, 800-volt technology, 170 mph speed and up to 555 hp was largely developed by Alpine. As a new edition of the icon from the 1980s, however, it drives with the rhombus on the hood.

In Dieppe, the new A110 family is not just aimed at European enthusiasts. Strategically, new markets play a particularly important role. The USA, for example. According to estimates, around half of the 350,000 sports cars sold worldwide each year are purchased there. Europe, where Alpine has so far only sold its vehicles, only accounts for around a quarter of the market. Entering the North American market would therefore practically double the sales potential.

However, the Americans are even more interested in classic sports cars with combustion engines such as the Porsche 911 or the Chevrolet Corvette. The technical back door of the new platform could therefore pave the way for the brand across the pond.

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