Performance is punchy but not extreme. The 0–62mph sprint takes 6.4 seconds for the more powerful models — a second quicker than the entry model — but the way the A290 delivers its speed is what makes the car. Instant electric torque gives it real punch out of corners, yet Alpine’s engineers have tuned the throttle response and chassis so it never feels overwhelming.
Illya Verpraet, one of Autocar’s crack road testing team, found it deeply rewarding: “Response is extremely good – easily meted out, positively responsive, with a gentle step-off from rest.”
Plenty of EVs can deliver quick acceleration in a straight line, but Alpine set out to create a car that’s as entertaining on a tight B-road as it is on a circuit. That meant tuning every detail – suspension geometry, damping, steering calibration – to give the car fluency and precision.
“It’s a really, really fun car on track, and that’s perhaps one of the most impressive things about the car,” said Tisshaw. “It’s got loads of grip, and really nice steering feel. You can really turn it into a corner, and it’s adjustable on the throttle as well. It’s definitely a car you can go and have fun on the circuit in.”
Yet it’s also a car you can live with. Saunders was impressed by the balance: “There’s a note of finesse and sophistication about the ride, a sense of composure that just lasts and lasts. You can push this car faster and faster, and it just gets better and better.
“You can tell that it’s had a lot of attention spent on the dynamic details, the suspension dampening, the body control. It just feels so sophisticated, so tactile. It feels really polished and laboured over, and you can just enjoy driving it.”
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