Alpine A110 E-ternite is an electric convertible that shows future of the brand

The original Alpine A110 is 60 years old and to celebrate it, the French performance automaker released its first electric car - the A110 E-ternite. To spice things up even more, the company gave its new sports car a removable roof, well - central part of it at least - and doing so created the first Alpine convertible.

Next generation Alpine A110 will be a pure electric car, no more mid-mounted turbo charged engines. The upcoming model will share the EV platform with Renault, but the company bosses are promising the Alpine will remain a bespoke performance car.

The A110 E-ternite is more of a “rolling laboratory” than the preview of the next generation A110. The car uses the same chassis as the outgoing car and swaps the petrol engine for a single electric motor pushing out 239 horsepower and 221 lb-ft of torque. Top speed comes at 155 mph and the 0 to 100 kph sprint takes 4.5 seconds.

Alpine uses battery packs from Renault Megane E-tech, but rather than keeping it centrally mounted it splits it into two locations. Four packs sit at the front and 8 sit at the back - that way the balance of the original car is retained and driving dynamics are almost identical.

All that hard work pays off with the car weighing only 258 kg more than the petrol powered original. The total weight is 1,378 kg which makes the car one of the lightest EVs on the market and that is one of the company’s goals for the upcoming model. The low weight results in good dynamics and good range - the company claims the cat can achieve 261 miles on a full charge.

Interesting fact is that the car is still using a gearbox. Alpine had to ask Getrag for help adapting the dual-clutch shifter from the petrol car since there wasn’t one available for the electric motor off the shelf. Alpine claims that by doing so it “avoided a break in torque while remaining compact and light”. We have to admit - it’s a slightly confusing statement that will need further investigation.

Visually the A110 E-ternite is identical to its petrol siblings. The removable roof hardly qualifies the car as a convertible, it’s just a large removable sunroof. The panel itself is made out of recycled carbon fiber and the company is experimenting with flax on a number of body panels which is as strong as the carbon but has better acoustic properties.

Alpine is famous for small, lightweight and fun to drive performance cars. The company has a lot of work ahead of it to try to maintain this image in the electric car age. Maybe it realizes it will be a tough job and that’s why it is planning to release its first high performance SUV in 2025 as it is shifting to an all-electric car manufacturer.

Source