Alpine A390 arrives to reboot the Alpine brand in Australia
The Alpine A110 is one of those cars that's impossible to hate.
From its cute coupe's styling, inoffensive size, explosive performance and sublime handling it's no wonder an Alpine owner is easy to spot in a police line-up – they're the ones with the permanent fixed grin.
Engage one in a conversation and you'll instantly regret it, such is their cult-like devotion for the A110 you'll lose hours being lectured at why they are, and always will be, better than a Porsche.
Which is strange because despite their keenness to spread the good word in the four short years it was on sale in Australia (2018-2022) Alpine, perhaps best know Down Under as the F1 home of Aussie driver Jack Doohan, sold just 106 of them – hardly enough to make ends meet for the reborn carmaker.
Hence why the local outfit is rebooting itself with an electric mid-size SUV – Australia's favourite flavour of car in one of the fastest-growing segments and once again the French Renault-owned carmaker has a Porsche in its sights with its all-new A390.
Like the little A110, we've got few complaints of the Alpine's looks. In fact, some might argue it's stunning.
Said to have drawn plenty from the Alpenglow super car concept, plus the A424 LMDh Le Mans endurance racer, the new Porsche Macan rival sports dramatic styling that includes complex air bending lifted from motorsport.
The 17-degree rear roof angle and the 8-degree angled diffuser for example, were both found to be optimal following exhaustive wind-tunnel testing of the Le Mans racer.
Everywhere you look there's yet another example of designers attempting to maximise downforce for high-speed stability with adding range-sapping drag.
Despite designed to pinch sales from the Macan, the A390 is much smaller car but tipping the scales at a still tubby 2121kg means it's a considerable 209kg lighter than the Porsche's 'Porker' Macan.
With less weight Alpine engineers have been able to maximise the performance of the A390 state-of-the-art triple-motor powertrain that uses a small e-motor to drive the front wheels and a pair of beefier units to spin up the rears.
Even the base GT produces 295kW and 650Nm or torque for a brisk 4.8 second 0-100km/h dash and a 200km/h top speed but if you want the version that can live up to the Alpine legacy you'll need the 345kW GTS that produces a monstrous
808Nm of torque.
Off the line, the most powerful A390 GTS takes 3.9 seconds to hit 100km/h form rest and tops out at 220km/h which makes it as quick as the fastest-ever A110.
The parallels with the A110 coupe continue.
Believe it or not but Alpine says behind the wheel the A390 drives just like the little two-door coupe, despite being twice as heavy.
The secret is a trick suspension with comfort-boosting hydraulic bump stops and the ability of the two rear motors to mimic a limited slip differential, with it able to tailor the way the A390 attacks a corner.
In the process not a single kW is wasted.
Of course, the A390 isn't perfect. Based on the same platform as the cheaper Renault Megane E-Tech it misses out on the most powerful 800-volt electrics, so the 400-volt Alpine can only handle a DC charge up to 190kW – a big drop from the Macan's 270kW – with the resulting 15-80 per cent top-up of the 89kWh battery claimed to take 25 minutes versus the Macan's 21 mins claim for a bigger 10-80 per cent recharge of the larger 101kWh power pack.
Alpine says range is bang on the money at 555km on the Euro WLTP range but space within isn't, with less room in the second row to stretch out beside the Macan, with engineers claiming the lack of space is deliberate as they wanted to the shortest wheelbase possible to enhance agility.
At least the Alpine comes with both a vehicle-to-load capability to charge external devices and a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) feature that could one days see owners take advantage of the cheapest electricity prices Down Under.
Speaking of price Alpine Australia is keeping its cards close to its chest, only confirming it for our market with pricing and full specification to come much later.
Hopefully, our timing will mirror what's happening in the UK with right-hand drive versions of the A390 set to land in dealers in Q2 of 2026.
The bad news is British-market Alpine A390s don't come cheap, with the battery-powered mid-size SUV hotly tipped to cost a considerable £60,000 (A$125,000) for the cheapest GT, not far off the what's charged for the Porsche Macan ($A! 33,700).
That's serious money for a brand with limited cache Down Under, except among a loyal band of diehards who will continue to insist any Alpine is better than a Porsche.
2026 Alpine A390
RANGE: 555km
POWER: 345kW combined
TORQUE: 808Nm
SPARE: Repair kit
*estimated
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