Like the Tesla Model S Plaid and Maserati Granturismo Folgore, the A390 has three motors – one at the front, two at the back. That lets it do proper torque vectoring: rather than just brake an inside wheel to encourage the car to turn in, it can overspeed the outside rear. This is electric performance cars coming of age and trying stuff that has no analogue in combustion-engined cars.
Deep down, the A390 is related to the Renault Scenic E-Tech, but it isn’t just a Scenic with a sloping roof. Even through the camouflage, you can see this is a distinct car. It even has a shorter wheelbase. The battery is different too. Alpine isn’t releasing battery capacity or output figures yet, but it’s designed to be able to support the three motors’ power outputs.
This is a slightly difficult story for Alpine to tell, because the brand is all about cars being light, and as an electric crossover, the A390… isn’t that. So supposedly, the A390 is all about creating the A110’s feeling of lightness through the torque vectoring and the careful tuning of the traction control and stability control (ESC) systems.
To that end, the specification of the A390 is unusual for a performance car – with some surprisingly thoughtful nods to practicality.
First off, there are those dual rear motors. Polestar tries to achieve much the same effect with a clutch pack on the rear axle, but according to Alpine that solution is slower to respond. What’s more, two smaller rear motors back-to-back are lower than one big one, thus allowing a lower boot floor.
Unlike most performance cars with a rear-biased torque distribution, the A390 doesn’t have wider tyres at the back: the fronts and rears are the same size. The engineers say that the wider rear track gives the car all the traction and stability it needs, and having four identical tyres makes sourcing replacements easier.
Alpine keeps it simple in other areas too: there’s no four-wheel steering and the suspension is passive for the most natural feel (although I imagine that cost plays a part here as well).
The proper launch of the A390 isn’t due until 2026, so for now I’ve only been given a brief, tantalising glimpse at what it can do on the wet handling circuit of Michelin’s Ladoux proving ground in France.
I’ve been sworn to secrecy about the interior, but if you’ve seen the interior of the A290 and of the Scenic, you’re free to speculate on what the A390’s might look like.