New Alpine A390: everything we know about the hot French electric SUV

• All-new electric SUV with focus on performance
• Could feature a triple-motor setup
• Will be revealed in 2025

There’s not long left to wait until we see the new Alpine A390 in the metal for the first time, and these fresh spy shots prove that the electric performance SUV is closer than ever to reaching showrooms.

Renault’s sporty performance division Alpine has been working on a hot SUV for some time, showing off a swoopy concept car last year in the brand’s traditional blue colour scheme. It’s expected to be fully revealed later this year, giving buyers a more practical alternative to the two-seater Alpine A110 sports car and the electric A290 hot hatch.

What do we know so far about the Alpine A390?

Alpine is a brand that’s all about performance. When it was rebooted in 2017, it set off on the right foot with the widely-applauded A110 sports car, and its follow up was a very different – although equally appealing – electric hot hatchback.

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But neither are particularly practical or family-friendly, so Alpine has decided that its third all-new model will branch out and enter the white-hot SUV market. Of course, performance will still take centre stage, combining speed and space in the same way that’s made cars like the Porsche Macan so popular over here.

So what do we actually know so far? Well for starters, Alpine doesn’t want to refer to the A390 as an SUV at all, instead calling it a ‘sport fastback’. Based on these fresh spy pictures, it certainly has the raised ride height of an SUV, but that sloping roofline gives it a profile similar to cars like the Polestar 4 or Cupra Tavascan.

The camouflage of the test car hides most of the A390’s details, but there’s still a lot we can infer from the A390_β concept car shown off in October last year. Features like the full-width light bar across the nose and the geometric front grille design are expected to make the jump to production, while the sloping black-painted roof isn’t far off the camouflaged test car.

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There should be a similar horizontal light bar at the rear, although the illuminating Alpine logo is unlikely to see the light of day. The interior of the concept car is also destined for the cutting room floor – the F1-inspired seats and steering wheel are too radical for what is, at its core, a family SUV. 

How fast will the Alpine A390 be?

A family SUV it may be, but the Alpine A390 won’t be a slouch from what Alpine’s now-former engineering boss Gilles Le Borgne told us in 2021. He mentioned that the A390 was likely to feature a triple-motor setup, using a 215bhp front-mounted electric motor and another two motors for the rear wheels. This will allow for four-wheel drive and clever ‘torque vectoring’, which allows power to be shuffled between the wheels for maximum agility.

Alpine’s VP for product performance, Sovang Ang, said the A390 will “drive like an [Alpine] A110”. That’s a serious statement to make, given that the A110 is widely regarded as one of the best-handling sports cars of the past decade. The BMW iX2 and Porsche Macan Electric were floated by Ang as potential rivals for the A390, which leaves quite a broad margin for performance – the quickest iX2 has 302bhp, while the Macan tops out at 630bhp.

Where the new A390 will fall on that performance spectrum remains to be seen. We know it will use the Renault Group’s electric AmpR Medium platform, which also underpins the Renault Scenic and Nissan Ariya. A sporty Nissan Ariya Nismo has just hit the market with a 429bhp dual-motor setup, so the Alpine could produce upwards of 500bhp with its three motors.

When will the A390 arrive and what’s next for Alpine?

A full reveal of the Alpine A390 is expected in 2025 when full performance, specs and pricing details will be confirmed. 

Alpine won’t stop there, though. The brand is aiming to release one new model each year until 2028 as it expands into new market segments. After the A390 SUV, an electric successor to the A110 sports car is due, along with a convertible version the following year. 

The final piece of the puzzle will be a four-seater sports car to sit above the A110, giving the French brand a BMW M4 rival. Unlike the Alpine A290, all of these new models will be bespoke to Alpine – not heavily reworked versions of existing Renaults.

There’s another new French EV on the way – read about the upcoming new Renault Twingo…