Watt's New: Alpine A290 GTS
Discussion
I was originally looking at top spec Renault 5 Etechs earlier in the year. I was always aware of the A290's existence, and as time went on I allowed my budget to creep, and creep a little further until I ended up choosing a top spec A290.
It's my first EV. It's my first new car. It's my first Alpine, my first French car. I say first EV but my other half has had a couple of Kias which I have driven a few times but never particularly taken any interest in, therefore we have an EV in the household already and I acknowledge the many pros and vanishingly few cons of EV ownership and driving.
There are 4 trim levels for the A290: GT and GT Premium which are only available with the 180hp electric motor, GT Performance and the top spec GTS which get the 220hp electric motor. I had my mind set on a GT Performance with full diamond cut wheels mostly because I preferred the dark cloth interior over the GTS's blue and light grey leather. I also wanted a stock/existing car rather than waiting 3-4 months for my perfect spec to be factory built. The dealer looked at the entire Alpine stock and there were only 11 GT Performances available, with none in the colour/wheel combination I was after. We checked GTS stock levels, lo and behold there were more than 120 with a couple in a spec I would like. That was my decision made (did I mention my budget creeping?!). Going up to the GTS also means that lots of extra features on the lower model now come as standard i.e. the premium Devialet sound system (which is fantastic). Driver assistance packages are still optional on the top GTS but I wasn't fussed for those. Just as a side note, the dealer said that of the A290s they have sold so far, around 10% have gone to existing A110 customers which I was surprised about -- I assumed it would be more (remember the Aston Martin Cygnet?).
Three weeks passed before the car arrived, I asked the dealer to kindly peel off the transport wrapping and do nothing to it, more than anything I wanted to avoid the dealer valeters getting their gritty hands on it and applying the first swirl marks. I resisted the temptation to drive it nonstop and instead dropped it at a local detailer a couple of days later for them to ceramic coat it and at least apply some kind of protection.
Finally, I got the car back and there is nothing I dislike about it. Not a single thing. I find the performance good for every occasion, but tight little twisty roads are where the A290 excels -- it sticks like shyte to a blanket. Despite what most reviewers have stated, you really have to be pushing it hard to see any understeer on real roads in my experience, whereas understeer and cocking of the rear wheel I presume it can be easily achieved on their little race track at the launch test drive, in Mallorca I recall. On the subject of reviews it became an incredibly tiresome and boring trope whenever 'F1 inspired steering wheel' was mentioned -- as if reviewers were contracted to mention it at least once. Quite what the steering wheel has in common with the steering wheel of an F1 car other than being in charge of turning the wheels, remains a mystery to me. Ditto reviewers mentioning the front brakes being transposed from the A110, however these are excellent. I'm led to believe that some EVs feel a bit grabby when applying the brakes when regen is already doing its thing but it's a completely smooth transition in the A290. The red 'OV' overtake button by your right thumb is a gimmick and I don't really find myself using in place of mashing my foot down when I want to overtake something. The three different levels of regenerative braking are effective, with the fully coasting mode supposedly the most efficient for maximising range, and full regen mode almost feeling like one pedal driving, although it won't come to a complete stop like a Kia EV and others, so not truly one pedal but it goes down to 8mph before you are forced to use the brake pedal. The menus, settings, instrument cluster and array of buttons on the steering wheel are a bit overwhelming to begin with but soon becomes quite easy to navigate with loads of customisation options. The transition between different instrument displays and screens in the instrument cluster is very laggy and jolty, I'd be interested to know if other owners experience the same.
The door sills are quite bulbous, therefore it takes some getting used to stepping in and out the car without catching them with your shoe or scratching your shoe across the plastic lower trim on the inside of the doors. Some protection film might in order there. Rear legroom isn't great but I couldn't care when I'm the one driving it. Thankfully, the A290 does without the 'Reno' virtual assistant avatar thing which the Renault salesperson was obsessing over when I test drive the 5 ETech. For example, 'Hey Reno... open the driver's window'. Utterly daft. It is however, absolutely packed with Google bloatware, Google Assistant, privacy settings etc. I've disabled as much of it as possible but some must remain active in order for the Alpine phone app to be of any use. It has wireless Android Auto and Apple Carplay but in every car I've used Android Auto with, it absolutely rinses my phone's battery even when it's plugged in and charging so I choose to just connect using normal Bluetooth to stream music and have the phone connected, and it's good enough. You can also sign in with the same Google account as on your phone, in order to use the same Google Maps account with saved locations and history etc.
Bootspace is alright, although the cubby area under the boot floor which is perfect to keep the 6.5m charging cable is non-existent on the GTS and other cars with the premium Devialet sound system because the subwoofer lives there. I've got a tethered wall charger at home, so the car's supplied cable just lives in the boot and hasn't seen any action yet.
To finalise, I am loving it so far and couldn't be happier. I still retain a fairly reliable old petrol powered estate car for long non-stop journeys or moving big stuff, I'm just dipping my toe in the water of EVs with this A290 but my attitude towards them has changed greatly in the last few months, and I feel I'll be ready for a running jump into that EV pool in the future without hesitation. It gets a huge amount of attention, which I wasn't expecting -- a lot of other EV drivers looking at it or asking about it when I'm charging somewhere, also a lot of people fixated on it when driving past. Yes, I'm a tart with the number plate but there were hundreds of cheap 'xxx 290' plates on DVLA website, it completes the look, and I was lucky to find one with my initials!
It's my first EV. It's my first new car. It's my first Alpine, my first French car. I say first EV but my other half has had a couple of Kias which I have driven a few times but never particularly taken any interest in, therefore we have an EV in the household already and I acknowledge the many pros and vanishingly few cons of EV ownership and driving.
There are 4 trim levels for the A290: GT and GT Premium which are only available with the 180hp electric motor, GT Performance and the top spec GTS which get the 220hp electric motor. I had my mind set on a GT Performance with full diamond cut wheels mostly because I preferred the dark cloth interior over the GTS's blue and light grey leather. I also wanted a stock/existing car rather than waiting 3-4 months for my perfect spec to be factory built. The dealer looked at the entire Alpine stock and there were only 11 GT Performances available, with none in the colour/wheel combination I was after. We checked GTS stock levels, lo and behold there were more than 120 with a couple in a spec I would like. That was my decision made (did I mention my budget creeping?!). Going up to the GTS also means that lots of extra features on the lower model now come as standard i.e. the premium Devialet sound system (which is fantastic). Driver assistance packages are still optional on the top GTS but I wasn't fussed for those. Just as a side note, the dealer said that of the A290s they have sold so far, around 10% have gone to existing A110 customers which I was surprised about -- I assumed it would be more (remember the Aston Martin Cygnet?).
Three weeks passed before the car arrived, I asked the dealer to kindly peel off the transport wrapping and do nothing to it, more than anything I wanted to avoid the dealer valeters getting their gritty hands on it and applying the first swirl marks. I resisted the temptation to drive it nonstop and instead dropped it at a local detailer a couple of days later for them to ceramic coat it and at least apply some kind of protection.
Finally, I got the car back and there is nothing I dislike about it. Not a single thing. I find the performance good for every occasion, but tight little twisty roads are where the A290 excels -- it sticks like shyte to a blanket. Despite what most reviewers have stated, you really have to be pushing it hard to see any understeer on real roads in my experience, whereas understeer and cocking of the rear wheel I presume it can be easily achieved on their little race track at the launch test drive, in Mallorca I recall. On the subject of reviews it became an incredibly tiresome and boring trope whenever 'F1 inspired steering wheel' was mentioned -- as if reviewers were contracted to mention it at least once. Quite what the steering wheel has in common with the steering wheel of an F1 car other than being in charge of turning the wheels, remains a mystery to me. Ditto reviewers mentioning the front brakes being transposed from the A110, however these are excellent. I'm led to believe that some EVs feel a bit grabby when applying the brakes when regen is already doing its thing but it's a completely smooth transition in the A290. The red 'OV' overtake button by your right thumb is a gimmick and I don't really find myself using in place of mashing my foot down when I want to overtake something. The three different levels of regenerative braking are effective, with the fully coasting mode supposedly the most efficient for maximising range, and full regen mode almost feeling like one pedal driving, although it won't come to a complete stop like a Kia EV and others, so not truly one pedal but it goes down to 8mph before you are forced to use the brake pedal. The menus, settings, instrument cluster and array of buttons on the steering wheel are a bit overwhelming to begin with but soon becomes quite easy to navigate with loads of customisation options. The transition between different instrument displays and screens in the instrument cluster is very laggy and jolty, I'd be interested to know if other owners experience the same.
The door sills are quite bulbous, therefore it takes some getting used to stepping in and out the car without catching them with your shoe or scratching your shoe across the plastic lower trim on the inside of the doors. Some protection film might in order there. Rear legroom isn't great but I couldn't care when I'm the one driving it. Thankfully, the A290 does without the 'Reno' virtual assistant avatar thing which the Renault salesperson was obsessing over when I test drive the 5 ETech. For example, 'Hey Reno... open the driver's window'. Utterly daft. It is however, absolutely packed with Google bloatware, Google Assistant, privacy settings etc. I've disabled as much of it as possible but some must remain active in order for the Alpine phone app to be of any use. It has wireless Android Auto and Apple Carplay but in every car I've used Android Auto with, it absolutely rinses my phone's battery even when it's plugged in and charging so I choose to just connect using normal Bluetooth to stream music and have the phone connected, and it's good enough. You can also sign in with the same Google account as on your phone, in order to use the same Google Maps account with saved locations and history etc.
Bootspace is alright, although the cubby area under the boot floor which is perfect to keep the 6.5m charging cable is non-existent on the GTS and other cars with the premium Devialet sound system because the subwoofer lives there. I've got a tethered wall charger at home, so the car's supplied cable just lives in the boot and hasn't seen any action yet.
To finalise, I am loving it so far and couldn't be happier. I still retain a fairly reliable old petrol powered estate car for long non-stop journeys or moving big stuff, I'm just dipping my toe in the water of EVs with this A290 but my attitude towards them has changed greatly in the last few months, and I feel I'll be ready for a running jump into that EV pool in the future without hesitation. It gets a huge amount of attention, which I wasn't expecting -- a lot of other EV drivers looking at it or asking about it when I'm charging somewhere, also a lot of people fixated on it when driving past. Yes, I'm a tart with the number plate but there were hundreds of cheap 'xxx 290' plates on DVLA website, it completes the look, and I was lucky to find one with my initials!
Most reviews also mention the unfavourably harsh ride. It's a tight little hot hatch! If you want a ride devoid of any feel whatsoever and more like a water bed then buy an S Class! I say 'little' hot hatch but when you are next to it, you realise how tall and wide it is for a hatchback.
If I'm being picky, I would like the seat to have a couple more adjustments such as thigh length and height -- it only has the basic forward/back, seat height and backrest angle as well as inflatable lumbar thing but don't get me wrong, the seats are very comfortable.
If I charge to 100%, the car will usually show around 200 miles range, with around 185-190 miles probably more realistic. I run it down to 10-15% before worrying about charging back up to 85-90% at home over a couple of nights or out somewhere on a fast charger while I have a coffee, only brimming it to 100% if going on a road trip.
If I'm being picky, I would like the seat to have a couple more adjustments such as thigh length and height -- it only has the basic forward/back, seat height and backrest angle as well as inflatable lumbar thing but don't get me wrong, the seats are very comfortable.
If I charge to 100%, the car will usually show around 200 miles range, with around 185-190 miles probably more realistic. I run it down to 10-15% before worrying about charging back up to 85-90% at home over a couple of nights or out somewhere on a fast charger while I have a coffee, only brimming it to 100% if going on a road trip.
Koyaanisqatsi said:
Just as a side note, the dealer said that of the A290s they have sold so far, around 10% have gone to existing A110 customers which I was surprised about -- I assumed it would be more (remember the Aston Martin Cygnet?)
That's a lot considering the number of A110 owners in the UK is absolutely tiny in comparison with everything else.Just to dump some more thoughts to the thread, and one or two niggles about the car. Headlights are excellent, auto is a bit too sensitive when it comes to anything but bright daylight with seemingly no way of overriding the headlights to 'off' whilst driving. When parked, they can be switched to DRLs only, but that's not allowed whilst driving. The car does what it wants and you accept it.
Once you get used to the instant surge of an EV under good acceleration, you come to the realisation that the A290 isn't that quick compared to many other EVs and even compared to other fast hatchbacks, although it simply excels when you ask a lot of it through a tight corner (turning circle is very good as well). It just feels ripe for a faster and/or all wheel drive version a couple of years down the line. One pedal driving would be a nice feature too. So would a panoramic roof but on a car already weighing in at 1,500kg ish, that might be pushing the weight a bit far.
There are three levels of regenerative braking (plus full coasting). The two most severe illuminate the brake lights when you lift off which I find particularly irritating when following an EV, but the lightest regen setting gives some nice deceleration, so I prefer that. However, your chosen regen setting doesn't carry over when you select the different drive modes. It defaults to full coasting when 'Save' mode is selected for example.
The only way to disable the interior lights is by going deep into the settings menu, there doesn't seem to be a way of holding your finger on the touch sensitive interior lights to switch it on and off with the opening of a door unless other owners can help with this. Rear centre headrest is too intrusive even in the lowest position so I've removed it. The car is festooned with LEDs but strangely the boot compartment light is a halogen bulb.
100kw charging is on the cards apparently but I can't seem to manage it when I've found a 100kw+ charger, even when it's been miles and miles away and I've given the car plenty of time to auto precondition the battery through the on board Google Maps, which in theory should get it ready to receive some fast charging. I mostly charge at home overnight, or occasionally a quick 15mins or so when going into a supermarket, so that's only a problem when going on a longer drive somewhere.
Finally, I bought some new mats as I think the original ones will wear out where my heels rest on the carpet. These mew Michelin ones are pretty much identical but with a rubber strip under the pedals. There's an option of a small patch of rubber or full on winter mats from carmats4u. You can also choose the piping and stitching colour, all for about 50 quid which I'd say is quite agreeable.
Once you get used to the instant surge of an EV under good acceleration, you come to the realisation that the A290 isn't that quick compared to many other EVs and even compared to other fast hatchbacks, although it simply excels when you ask a lot of it through a tight corner (turning circle is very good as well). It just feels ripe for a faster and/or all wheel drive version a couple of years down the line. One pedal driving would be a nice feature too. So would a panoramic roof but on a car already weighing in at 1,500kg ish, that might be pushing the weight a bit far.
There are three levels of regenerative braking (plus full coasting). The two most severe illuminate the brake lights when you lift off which I find particularly irritating when following an EV, but the lightest regen setting gives some nice deceleration, so I prefer that. However, your chosen regen setting doesn't carry over when you select the different drive modes. It defaults to full coasting when 'Save' mode is selected for example.
The only way to disable the interior lights is by going deep into the settings menu, there doesn't seem to be a way of holding your finger on the touch sensitive interior lights to switch it on and off with the opening of a door unless other owners can help with this. Rear centre headrest is too intrusive even in the lowest position so I've removed it. The car is festooned with LEDs but strangely the boot compartment light is a halogen bulb.
100kw charging is on the cards apparently but I can't seem to manage it when I've found a 100kw+ charger, even when it's been miles and miles away and I've given the car plenty of time to auto precondition the battery through the on board Google Maps, which in theory should get it ready to receive some fast charging. I mostly charge at home overnight, or occasionally a quick 15mins or so when going into a supermarket, so that's only a problem when going on a longer drive somewhere.
Finally, I bought some new mats as I think the original ones will wear out where my heels rest on the carpet. These mew Michelin ones are pretty much identical but with a rubber strip under the pedals. There's an option of a small patch of rubber or full on winter mats from carmats4u. You can also choose the piping and stitching colour, all for about 50 quid which I'd say is quite agreeable.
Edited by Koyaanisqatsi on Wednesday 24th September 22:31
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