Alpine A390 Review 2025

There will inevitably be a collective sigh from some quarters that another sports car brand has opted to release a fully electric SUV coupe instead of something resembling a conventional sports car. That gasp of dismay conveniently ignores not only that electrification will continue to quickly march on but also that demand for traditional sports coupes has dwindled to unsustainable levels in many instances. With those latter points in mind the debut Alpine A390 makes perfect sense.

Renault's performance wing knows first-hand just how fickle sports car buyers are. Its Alpine A110 is one of the best-regarded performance coupes of the modern era, with praise heaped on it from every quarter. It would feel just if Alpine couldn’t build them quickly enough to sate demand but the truth is they trickle out of showrooms.

Hence why its second car of modern times was the Alpine A290 — a Gallic chic take on the hot hatchback using the battery-powered Renault 5 E-Tech as its excellent starting point. The A390 is an altogether different proposition, though, not least because there’ll be no Renault-badged version of it — it’s as much a pure Alpine as the A110 is.

Viewed from the side, the Alpine A390’s silhouette is strikingly similar to the A110’s, despite being larger in every dimension in order to accommodate a rear bench seat, an extra set of doors on either side and the zeitgeisty elevated stance necessary to be an SUV. Not that Alpine refers to it as such, instead choosing to label it a sport fastback.

Exterior details break fresh ground for Alpine — gone are the circular lights of the A110 and its forbears, replaced instead by slender slits of LEDs punctuated by tiny illuminated triangles. That shape, reflecting the ‘A’ of Alpine is repeated all around the A390, including at the crests of the wheelarches. The effect is well-judged and — despite their frequency — doesn’t feel overwrought.

One element that’s worthy of a specific mention are the — triangular, natch — back door handles nestled into the rearmost edges of the window frames, the effect of which replicates the A110’s recessed glass that channel air into ducts feeding the engine. Magnifique.

Inside the A390 is what appears more like an Alpine-trimmed version of a Renault dashboard, with a similar twin-screen arrangement as you’ll find in the family friendly Scenic E-Tech SUV. That’s not a bad thing given the quality of Renault’s recent cabins, the lift of the Alpine touches should prove sufficient to make it feel special.

It will need to feel more than simply a cut above the mainstream if Alpine’s going to convince would-be buyers that the A390 is a credible alternative to a diverse range of alternatives including the co-developed Audi Q6 Sportback e-tron and Porsche Macan Electric, the Maserati Grecale Folgore and the rakish Polestar 4.

So how do the Alpine A390’s performance credentials stack-up based on the provisional data revealed so far? Positively is the succinct answer.

Following a limited availability Premiere Edition, Alpine will offer the A390 in fast GT and faster still GTS guises, generating 400PS and 470PS respectively courtesy of a trio of electric motors. Up front a single motor drives the front wheels which each side at the rear has a motor of its own allowing Alpine’s engineers — and A390 drivers — to mete-out the torque with a greater deal of playfulness than is the norm. Fingers crossed that translates into a genuinely fun driving experience.

With 650Nm of torque at its disposal, the A390 GT is set to squirrel from a standstill to 62mph in 4.8 seconds, while the GTS’s boastful 808Nm quota trims that down to 3.9 seconds. Considering the lightest version of this Alpine is set to tip the scales at 2121kg, this promises to be a mightily brisk family car.

Electric cars famously chew through the energy reserves stored in the high voltage batteries rather gluttonously when their performance is maximised but when driven more gently, such as when going through the process of WLTP Combined cycle driving certification to officially confirm their range, they can prove to be impressively efficient.

We’ll see how things look once the A390’s been fully homologated but the provisional figures for both the GT and GTS indicate a range of 323-344 miles from the 89kWh battery they share.

Bidirectional charging — allowing external electrical devices to be plugged into the Alpine A390 as a power source — is part of the package with the 11kW AC on-board charger for domestic wallbox use as standard, while a 22kW version is optionally available. Ultra-rapid DC charging has a maximum flow rate of 190kW, although charging times have yet to be published.

We’re not expecting the Alpine A390 to be the most spacious of family SUVs despite its 4615mm length. Self-evidently that slinky roofline could well be a limiting factor to comfort for taller rear-seat passengers, while Alpine itself described the cabin as a ‘sporty cocoon for five’. Snug, then.

Its large, glazed tailgate will grace the 532-litre boot with a useful degree of practicality as does the fact the photos suggest it cuts down to a relatively low bumper level when needing to hoick heavy items in and out of it. How much volume’s available when the split-folding rear seat is tipped forwards will be confirmed in due course.

Pricing similarly remains unconfirmed at this stage but expect the Alpine A390 GT to start at around £60,000 with a further £10,000 needed for the GTS when order books open in the final couple of months of 2025. Customer deliveries will commence in early 2026.

Keep this page bookmarked for further news and details about this important newcomer ahead of our full and comprehensive Alpine A390 review later in the year.