Alpine A290 (2025) Review - Select Car Leasing
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Alpine A290 (2025) Review

Introduction

The relationship between Renault and Alpine is becoming increasingly blurred. Technically, they’re two separate brands under the same roof, but Renault has started putting Alpine badges on its sportily styled SUV and hatchbacks, while Alpine has, apparently, started tarting up Renault products.

If you need evidence of that, look no further than the new Alpine A290, which is essentially a high-performance version of the retro-styled Renault 5 that’s just arrived on the market. Offering more rally-inspired design cues and a dollop more power, as well as bespoke chassis settings and equipment, it’s supposed to be the top of the Renault 5 tree, but does it feel a cut above the Renault-badged product?

Select's rating score* - 3.9 / 5

At a Glance

In basic terms, the A290 looks quite a lot like the Renault 5 on which it’s based, but it looks sufficiently different to make it feel special. Beefier bumpers and arches, and some cool details such as the snowflake pattern in the grilles and the X-graphic ‘spotlights’ at the front, all help to make it stand out. And that’s before we discuss liveries.

Inside, meanwhile, the Alpine gets a few A290-specific tweaks, but the basic structure is pretty similar to that of the Renault 5. It’s more premium, too, with an Alpine-specific colour scheme and, in the case of more upmarket versions, some really nice leather upholstery. And Renault’s quality is better than that of many rivals anyway, so the Alpine still feels classy enough to compete.

Perhaps more importantly, though, Alpine has kitted the A290 out with a choice of two more powerful electric motors. Although Alpine will tell you they have 180hp and 220hp respectively, that’s not quite the case, but both have enough grunt to make significant headway. Yet despite that, both models have an official range of more than 200 miles.

And Alpine has worked wonders on an already impressive chassis, upgrading the Renault 5 to make it even sharper in the corners, and even grippier thanks to its ultra-sticky Michelin tyres. Although it’s front-wheel-drive, and enthusiasts will tell you all- or rear-wheel-drive would be better, the A290 is unquestionably exhilarating.

Key Features

When we talk about hot hatchbacks, performance and handling have to be part of the story. Nobody is choosing a performance car that isn’t fast, or a driver’s car that doesn’t handle. Fortunately, the A290 does both, and though even the most potent 218hp electric motor doesn’t feel quite as quick as you might have hoped, the Alpine definitely doesn’t hang about. Getting from 0-62mph takes less than six-and-a-half seconds, and the response from the motors is instantaneous.

Better still, despite sending its power to the front wheels, the A290 behaves like a proper hot hatch, building on the brilliance of the Renault 5 it’s based on. It darts into corners eagerly, clinging tenaciously to the asphalt with those brilliant Michelin tyres. And it has great brakes, which feel nice and natural, as well as offering plenty of stopping power.

But for many, the real draw of the A290 will be the way it looks. The chunky, bulldog stance, the X-graphic lights designed to mimic rally car spotlights, the big, glossy arches… It’s theatre, and it makes the A290 feel special. Not that the Renault 5 didn’t feel special already.

Range & Batteries

With just one 52kWh battery pack offered to A290 customers, the range is more dependent on the motor than on anything else about the car. Opt for a ‘basic’ GT or GT Premium model, with the less powerful motor, and you’ll get an official range of 234 miles, which is cut to 224 miles if you choose the GT Performance, GTS or Premiere Edition models. It isn’t a huge difference – a mere 10 miles – and you’re unlikely to notice the difference in the real world.

That said, if you’re going to use the performance of the A290 in any form – and you probably will, otherwise you’d just have the Renault 5 – you won’t get anywhere near the claimed economy anyway. Regardless of motor, don’t expect to achieve much more than about 190 miles to a charge in the real world. Anyone who tops 200 miles will likely be driving like a saint.

Performance & Drive

If you believe Alpine’s marketing bods, the 52kWh battery pack powers a motor with either 180 or 220hp, depending on specification. But those figures are, shall we say, rounded… In fact, the base A290 gets 177hp while the more powerful versions get 218hp.

The difference between the two is noticeable, but not exactly remarkable, with the base version getting from 0-62mph in about seven-and-a-half seconds, while the 218hp motor cuts that time by around a second. And that performance is supplemented by an overtake button, which changes the throttle map so you get full power at anything other than small accelerator pedal inputs. It doesn’t change the performance, but it does make the car feel a bit quicker.

Similarly, that performance is managed somewhat by the driving modes, which will tweak the responsiveness of the accelerator depending on what you want from the A290. In the most efficient setting, you have to wait a beat for the power to arrive, as if the car is asking whether you’re sure you want to put your foot down, whereas Sport mode sharpens things up noticeably and pipes a synthesised sound into the cabin. The noise is based on the motor noise, and it does clever things such as hesitating when wheel slip is detected, but it becomes irritating quite quickly.

You won't, however, tire of the way the A290 drives. The suspension is very different to that of the Renault 5, and that means there’s sharper steering, an Alpine-specific set-up and bespoke tyres, all of which help to make it feel lively and light on its feet. Sure, the steering is a bit short of feel and there’s more body roll than you might expect, but it’s all quite stable and well controlled.

But the real magic of the A290 is that it does all that while still being comfortable. Perhaps it doesn’t feel like a magic carpet, but it’s absorbent and composed in a way that many hot hatchbacks — and particularly electric ones — are not. You never get any jaggedness or harshness, unlike, for example, the Abarth 500e.

Charging

Though the A290 is available with a choice of different motors, the battery is unchanged between the different models. They’ll all charge at speeds of up to 100kW on a DC public rapid charge point, which means you can fill the battery to 80% in about half an hour, and they can charge at up to 11kW on AC charging points such as the ones you might find at home or at work. Just beware that most household ‘wallbox’ charge points will only charge at about 7kW, which should fill the battery in about eight hours or so.

Running Costs & Emissions

Despite being a performance-orientated car, the A290 should be much cheaper to run than a conventionally powered equivalent. With electric power the sole option, it’ll be cheap to charge at home, and the battery is small enough that a full charge can easily be achieved overnight if you have a proper ‘wallbox’ home charging unit. And while charging in public is going to be more expensive, it should still be cheaper than running any petrol car with equivalent performance.

That’s especially true if you’re a company car driver. The low rates of Benefit-in-Kind taxation available to electric vehicle drivers are such that choosing one is a no-brainer. However, it has to be said that you will still pay some tax, and the A290 is far from the cheapest electric hatchback out there, so you might still save some pennies with a ‘normal’ Renault 5 or another electric car.

Interior & Technology

The A290 is supposed to be a more premium product than the Renault 5, so Alpine has taken steps to make the cabin feel that bit more upmarket. Sporty seats have been fitted, in light of the car’s performance-orientated attitude, and there are some more upmarket materials on the dash, as well as some Alpine badging.

Alpine has also clearly allowed its F1 team’s influence to permeate with the design team, too, with a steering wheel festooned with switchgear. There’s a blue rotary switch for adjusting the regenerative braking, a red ‘overtake’ button for a burst of torque, and a drive mode selector, plus all the usual media switchgear.

But the focal point (or should that be the focal points?) remain(s) the two screens in the dashboard. Look closely and you might notice that the two aren’t quite at the same height, which can irritate, but they are both very good at what they do. The displays are sharp, and the software in the touchscreen is based on the same tech you’ll find in an Android smartphone, so it’s intuitive and easy to navigate. Having Google Maps built in is great, too, especially as the system knows how much charge the car has, and can use that to inform charging stops.

So while the in-car technology is unquestionably some of the best we’ve come across, it isn’t perfect. There are ‘challenges’ in the touchscreen, encouraging you to do standing starts or hit the top speed, and though they’re designed for track use, you can just imagine morons trying them out on the road.

That said, there are some sensible features, including the decision to leave much of the climate control to the physical switchgear beneath the touchscreen, and the supercar-style buttons for changing between forward and reverse gears.

Overall, the impression is of a well thought-out and well-executed small hot hatchback, and quality is generally reasonable, but it doesn’t feel quite as premium as the Mini Cooper SE, which is cleaner, more modern and more upmarket. That said, the Alpine still feels special, and that’s arguably more important than feeling premium.

Practicality & Boot Space

You might not expect the A290 to be especially practical, but it doesn’t stack up too badly, with much the same space you get from a standard Renault 5.

So while the five-door layout means access to the rear seats is pretty good, space back there is limited. You can put four adults in the A290, but they won’t be especially comfortable. Boot space, however, is much more impressive, with 326 litres of luggage space in base models. That does fall to 300 litres if you get the GTS or Premiere Edition models, with their upmarket sound systems, but that’s still solid compared with the Mini Cooper SE.

Safety

Unsurprisingly, the A290 doesn’t have a proper Euro NCAP crash test rating all of its own, but the European independent safety body has deemed it structurally close enough to the Renault 5 to share its score. As a result, it has a respectable but unremarkable four-star rating, with solid but unspectacular scores across the board.

But it comes with a few gizmos to help prevent customers having to put that rating to the test, including autonomous emergency braking, lane-keeping assistance and speed limit warning technology. Admittedly some of these systems – particularly the last one – can be irritating and have to be on by law when the car is started. So the Alpine has a switch that allows you to preselect the systems you want activated, then access them quickly and easily when you get in the car, reducing the ire of customers.

Options

The A290 comes in a choice of five different trim levels, although they are closely associated with the motor set-up you prefer. If you want the 177hp car, you’re stuck with either GT or GT Premium trim levels, while those who go for the 218hp motor can have either GT Performance, GTS or Premiere Edition models on their driveways.

The basic GT is already a well-equipped thing, getting 19-inch alloys, Brembo brakes and privacy glass, as well as heated front seats, climate control and the two-screen dashboard with a digital instrument cluster and touchscreen.

GT Premium models add more upmarket upholstery, blue brake callipers and a heated steering wheel, while the GT Performance models add a bit more sporting intent, with red brake callipers and an on-board telemetry system, as well as the stickier Michelin tyres.

The GTS, meanwhile, combines both the GT Premium and GT Performance models together with the 220hp motor, while the Premiere Edition is jazzed up with a choice of special livery options.

In truth, the A290 doesn’t need a special livery to look any more imposing, but we’d stick with one of the blue or white options to show the muscular look at its best. Black seems to drown the little hatchback, somehow.

Rival Cars

The hot electric hatchback market is simultaneously large and small at the same time. With such focus on efficiency, performance cars aren’t always easy to come by, but such is the strength of the electric motor that even some comparatively mundane models are surprisingly speedy.

Take, for example, the Mini Cooper SE, which should be something between a hot hatchback and a family car – a warm hatch, if you will – but it gets from 0-62mph in less than seven seconds, and it handles really well. If you ignore the pinched rear end, it’s also quite nicely designed and it comes with a cool interior.

Elsewhere, the Abarth 500e is a smaller electric hatchback, but one that’s more explicit in its aims than the Mini. It looks cute and makes a silly noise, but it doesn’t have much in the way of range.

The same can also be said for the Alfa Romeo Junior Veloce, which is a bit bigger than the A290 and feels like more of an SUV, but it drives spectacularly well and it looks great. Kind of like a shrunken Kia EV6.

Then there’s the even bigger MG4 XPower, which has ridiculous performance and is much bigger than the A290, but it’s a one-trick pony. While it’s fast in a straight line, it isn’t even as good as a basic MG4 EV in the corners, and it’s nowhere near as poised as the Alpine. It isn’t as nice inside, either.

Verdict & Next Steps

If you’re looking for a Renault 5 that’s a bit bolder and more aggressive, then the Alpine A290 definitely ticks that box, but it doesn’t feel all that much more dramatic than the Renault. Yes, it’s firmer and faster, but it feels as though there’s more to come from the little Alpine. If you can get past that, though, the A290 is a great little hot hatchback with a cool image and bags of capability in the corners. It’s a good car, and with the right development, it has the makings of a great one.

Where to next?

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**Score based on Select’s unique meta score analysis, taking into account the UK’s top leading independent car website reviews of the Alpine A290 Hatchback.

**Correct as of 28/04/2025. Based on 9 months initial payment, 5,000 miles annually, over a 48 month lease. Initial payment equivalent to 9 monthly payments, or £4,336.20 (Plus admin fee) Ts and Cs apply. Credit is subject to status.

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