The reborn Renault 5 has already won almost every automotive award going in 2025, including the European Car of the Year title. It’s the greatest comeback since Elvis Presley at Burbank Studios in 1968, or Niki Lauda at the Italian Grand Prix in 1976.
If the electric Renault is the best thing since sliced baguette, the Alpine A290 – a hotted-up R5 with more power, sharper handling and sportier styling – should be as irresistible as a freshly baked pain au chocolat. Unless, as in my French GCSE exam, something gets lost in translation.
The A290 range starts from £33,500 for the 180hp GT version, or £345 per month on PCP finance. Standard equipment includes 19-inch alloy wheels, Brembo four-piston front brakes, a heat pump, adaptive cruise control, heated front seats and a reversing camera. For £36,000, or £375 a month, you can upgrade to the GT Luxury with Nappa leather, a premium audio system and a heated steering wheel. Or there is the GT Performance, with on-board telemetry and bespoke Michelin Pilot Sport 5 S tyres for the same outlay.
Top rung on the A290 ladder is the 220hp GTS – the car tested here. It costs £38,000 or £390 a month, can sprint to 62mph in 6.4 seconds and has a fully charged range of 226 miles. Is this the electric hot hatchback we’ve been waiting for?
Light is right
As anyone who has read our Retro Road Test will know, I’ve always had a hankering for a Renault 5 GT Turbo. Back in the late 1990s, when my friends were ogling girls in Loaded, I was more interested in Max Power magazine. After building up my no-claims bonus for a couple of years, I eventually bought a tatty Peugeot 205 GTI, followed by a string of Golf GTIs. But the fast and fragile Five always eluded me.
It might wear an Alpine badge, but this car is a direct descendant of the GT Turbo. Its family tree also includes an abundance of legendary Renault Sport hot hatches, from the Clio 172 to Megane RS Trophy-R, along with the sublime Alpine A110 sports car.
The A290 is Alpine’s first EV, and the first of seven vehicles, all due for launch before 2030, in what CEO Philippe Krief calls his ‘dream garage’. Among others, the lineup will include the recently announced A390 crossover, a new 500hp+ electric A110 and a V6 hybrid hypercar.
Alpine is keen to stress the A290’s credentials as a proper performance car, rather than simply an R5 in a tracksuit. Besides the extra power, it has retuned springs and dampers, a wider track, stiffer anti-roll bars, hydraulic bump stops and uprated brakes. At the heart of it all is light weight; the A290 tips the scales at 1,479kg – 136kg less than the electric Mini Cooper SE. It’s still, a whopping 626kg heavier than a classic 5 GT Turbo, mind.
Inside the Alpine A290
The regular Renault 5 looks irresistible, particularly in the vibrant Pop Yellow or Pop Green paint colours. Some think the fussier Alpine gilds the lily, but I rather like its added attitude. Once a Max Power reader, right?
The A290’s front spot lamps feature an LED cross motif like taped-up headlamps of a rally car, while its scalloped body sides hint at the air intakes on the original, mid-engined R5 Turbo. An interesting point of note: the Alpine ‘A’ badge on the front wing is reversed on the driver’s side of the car, so that its arrow always points forward.
Inside, there are sports seats with bigger bolsters, a 10.1-inch touchscreen and a chunky steering wheel with a big red ‘overtake’ button. It all looks attractive and feels well made. The boot carries a useful 326 litres, but rear passenger space is quite tight, limiting the Alpine’s potential as a family car. The absence of cupholders seems an odd omission in 2025, too.
A smooth operator
Prod the D-for-drive button (borrowed from the A110) and the A290 feels instantly up for it. With 221lb ft going through its front tyres, this GTS version can break traction if you’re hard on the throttle out of corners. Yet it mostly feels smooth and eager, with enough punch to make swift progress.
If you want stomach-scrambling EV acceleration, though, this isn’t the car for you. Alpine has clearly left some headroom for quicker versions to come, and I suspect the 180hp model – which reaches 62mph a second slower, in 7.4sec – might feel ‘warm’ rather than hot.
Its electric drivetrain also lacks the fizz and aural excitement of a petrol engine, despite the synthesised soundtrack coming though the speakers (which you can switch off). The overtake button seems like a bit of a gimmick – you’ll achieve the same by flattening your right foot – but being able to adjust the energy regen (the blue dial on the bottom left of the steering wheel) means you can drive with one pedal at lower speeds. The by-wire Brembo brakes feel hefty and powerful when needed, too.
A French connection
The A290 claws back some kudos in the corners. It has that alert, chuckable feel that has been twisted into French hot hatchback DNA for decades. Its steering isn’t the last word in feedback, yet it turns in keenly and precisely, the rear axle coming around with playful enthusiasm. You can really take liberties with your entry speed, then rely on the car to sort things out.
On faster roads with open corners, you can also ramp up the regen and then simply ease off the throttle to slow for bends. It’s a different kind of driving with a very satisfying kind of flow. Yes, Alpine could sharpen things up with more power and a limited-slip diff, but for daily driving I reckon the balance is about right.
A relatively small 52kWh battery, while useful for saving weight, does mean a real-world range of less than 200 miles. The ability to charge at up to 100kW means you can ‘refuel’ from 15-80 percent using a rapid charger. A full fill-up using a home wallbox takes around seven hours.
Verdict: Alpine A290 GTS
As a hot hatchback, the Alpine’s shortcomings are those you’d expect from an electric car: a lack of drama from its drivetrain, plus a rather high seating position that results from locating batteries beneath the floor. However, by keeping weight down and sprinkling on some Renault Sport fairy dust, it avoids the stodgy, one-dimensional feel of some EVs. Whether you’re zipping around town or flinging it down a B-road, the A290 is genuinely fun to drive.
Like its sister Renault 5, it’s also a desirable object to own: stylish, interesting and cool without being ostentatious. Will the 17-year-olds of today grow up aching to own one? I reckon they just might.
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