Alpine Sports BEV Revealed… Without Performance Claims

Paul Myles

TU-Editor

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11th May 2023

Sports car manufacturer Alpine has unveiled its BEV concept waxing lyrical about its design and usability but devoid of any performance claims.

The Alpine A290_β Concept is directly being pitched at track-day drivers and yet not comparative lap times are being claimed against the brand’s existing ICE powered offerings. That said, it does boast a Formula One style overtake button on its racing style steering wheel. This is inspired by Alpine’s LMP2, A470 and F1 A523 single-seaters.

Its geometric gamepad-like design has a series of specific functions, including a red OV (Overtake) button to deliver a 10-second power boost. To prevent irresponsible use, it can only be used when the track is dry and can only be pressed again after a 10 second wait. Other steering wheel functions include radio, driving mode selector, ABS settings and the pit-lane speed-limiting button.

There are also three driving modes for tracks: Wet, Dry and Full. On a wet track, the car responds much more gently, has more traction and is stabler. In Dry mode, the car is allowed to slide more and the power delivery is more aggressive. And Full mode, like the Overtake button, unleashes the electric motors’ unlimited power potential.

What further performance related details the automaker does tell us is the all-new multi-link rear axle plus torque vectoring technology, which controls the torque reaching each wheel separately, is tuned for track use. The production car being promised to follow will also have a similar torque management mechanism.

— Paul Myles is a seasoned automotive journalist based in Europe. Follow him on Twitter @Paulmyles_