RENAULT

New Alpine A110 in both electric and hybrid variants

The successor to the Alpine A110 sports car, which was originally planned to be all-electric, is still set to be joined by a petrol-powered version as part of a hybrid powertrain.

In an interview with British magazine Evo, Alpine CEO Philipp Krief hinted that the next-generation sports car could come in both electric and petrol-powered hybrid variants.

Krief didn’t offer a clear explanation for the change in strategy, but given the recent slowdown in demand for electric vehicles and the lukewarm response to electric sports cars, the move isn’t exactly surprising.

Krief says the new A110 is expected to arrive in early 2027. It will be available as a two-seater coupe, a convertible and even a 2+2 configuration with rear seats. He also hinted that “the design of the new one will make the current car look old.”

According to current information, the electric coupe will have two motors and rear-wheel drive with more than the 464 horsepower currently available in the A390. It will also use a specially designed battery pack, with a target weight of under 1,360 kilograms. Alpine also aims to make the battery pack fully interchangeable, allowing owners to upgrade to newer batteries over time and avoid long-term degradation.

Details on the next-geneneration all-electric Alpine A110 sports car are starting to surface. On Tuesday, British car magazine Evo revealed a conversation with Alpine CEO Philippe Krief about the car, in which Krief revealed some key insights as to what the EV will offer.

For starters, the new A110 will introduce varying body styles. Krief said it will be offered in coupe and convertible forms, and even suggested there will be both a two-seat version and a 2+2 available. The car’s footprint is reportedly remaining the same as the outgoing model, but Krief followed that up by saying, “the design of the new one will make the current car look old.”

As for the powertrain, Krief says the A110 won’t share much with the brand's other cars like the A390 crossover. A dual-motor rear axle will make the car rear-wheel drive, and Krief suggested it will make more power than the 464-horsepower A390 produces. It’s even planned to use a bespoke battery pack designed to maximize energy density, to ensure there isn’t a loss of performance when driving hard for long periods of time. Krief suggested the car has a target curb weight of 1300 kilograms, or 2866 pounds. If the production version arrives under 3000 pounds (and with respectable range), that would be a huge win for electric performance cars.

Other details are a little hazier. Alpine is reportedly designing the car in a fashion that allows for easy replacement of the battery pack, allowing owners to upgrade to improved technology when it comes out. Additionally, Krief isn’t quoted as saying so, but Evo is even suggesting there could eventually be a gas-powered variant of the new A110 down the road. We’ll believe it when we see it.

As for when it should debut, the electric model is currently scheduled to launch in 2027, leaving just a short wait between the current generation wrapping up production in 2026 and the new one hitting the streets. Whether that will someday include American streets, however, still remains up in the air.

Design...The electric A110 will be true to its forebears in being instantly recognisable, in the same way Porsche design nurtures the 911’s look. “For premium brands, you need a certain consistency, a family feeling,” said former group CEO de Meo. “There will always be some fixed points that are characteristic of Alpine so that you can recognise the products from 200 metres away.”

The new A390 fastback displays the common threads of Alpine design, says group vice president Laurens van den Acker. “You have a pointed front end, with Al

pine written in the front and the double-headlight signature. You have the body side line that drops down and the very nice rear window.” Shaped like a helmet’s vizor, it unites the A110 and A390. “But we want to give every car its personality,” van den Acker tells us.

“The A110 will be replaced. If you want the pure DNA of the brand, it’s always available in the A110: it’s the roots on which we’re growing a tree. The A110 will be very recognisable, but in terms of proportions and surfacing, it will evolve – for the better I’d say.”

The APP sports car platform allows for bigger wheels to boost the stance. “And it’s versatile because you cannot make money with one sports car. Because it's extruded aluminum, it’s relatively easy to change the wheel base or width. And that helps pull different vehicles off it,” says the design director. Alpine boss Krief predicts APP will underpin the two-seat coupe and a roadster version, plus 2+2-seater models. 

It’s an ambitious plan, which should add a 1,000bhp hybrid supercar and potentially a bigger SUV on top, if Alpine eventually decides to attack the US market. But why will it work, given that French car makers have typically failed to crack the premium market? 

Luca de Meo believed the electric transition is a great leveller. “More or less, we are on a par with the others. Everybody's learning, everybody's investing in battery technology and e-motors. It’s not that we have a 100-year gap to close so maybe it’s an opportunity for us.

“In the first generation, electric cars have been, in the main, appliances like washing machines – kind of ugly and unemotional. Maybe we can prove that electric car technology can actually be fun, that we can put in a soul. Alpine’s original position was doing more with less, the use of materials, of lightness instead of a big thing with big batteries. That’s the window I see again.”

The new architecture will also allow for the adoption of more advanced SDV software, including the Alpine Dynamic Module, which will improve the coupe's agility thanks to Active Torque Vectoring. This system is rumored to have been developed by Lotus. The engine, produced by American Whylot (in which Renault owns 21%), also promises to be revolutionary, using a high-performance axial flux system. This technology, which will also be used in the next generation of Renault hybrids, will allow for a dual motor (one per transmission) on the rear axle, for a combined output of 480 hp. Light, small, and powerful, in addition to being highly efficient, this electric motor is ideal for the limited space available in the French sports car.

The new electric A110 will be available not only in coupe form but also in a new roadster variant (codenamed ER110) – as seen in the digital renderings from L'Argus. The coupe will be unveiled in spring 2026 and launched between the end of next year and the beginning of 2027. It will be produced in Dieppe, France.

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