Alpine A110 E-ternity is a lightweight electric car with excellent range
Lightweight fun machine
Thanks to its low weight – it weighs about 300 kilograms less than a Porsche 718 Cayman – the Alpine A110 may be the most fun-to-drive sports coupe of the moment. Shame that the brand must and thus will switch to all-electric cars, we hear you thinking. They see that very differently at Alpine. In fact, the brand is looking forward to it a bit. Thanks to the high demand for electric cars, Alpine expects to increase production sevenfold in the future at best! Bring on that future, they say at Alpine.
Three EVs
Alpine is therefore fully committed to electrification, introducing three new all-electric cars in the coming years. The brand kicks off its electric future in 2024 with a B-segmenter, which you can think of as the sporty brother of the new Renault 5. A large C-segment SUV should appear in showrooms in 2025. A year later, it is time for an all-electric successor to the current A110.
Electric Alpine
As a taster, we may now get a sneak peek at the A110 E-ternity. With this concept car, Alpine celebrates not only the future, but also the past. Indeed, the brand is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the classic A110 this year. Renault’s engineers have done a nice job of building a car that falls into the featherweight category just like the regular A110. The E-ternity weighs a total of 1,378 kilograms, which is ultra-light for an electric car. It is only about 250 kilograms heavier than a regular A110.
Saw
On the outside, the E-ternity looks broadly like a regular A110. It has received a pair of angry headlights and the fixed rear window has been exchanged for one that opens and features a special honeycomb wrap. The engineers also cut the saw into the roof and replaced the aluminum sheet metal for two carbon fiber panels, which you can stow behind the seats on a sunny day. Of course, the rear is missing the hexagonal exhaust pipe.
Megane E-Tech Electric
The substantially rebuilt A110 features the battery pack from the Megane E-Tech Electric. The package is not – as with almost all new EVs – in the bottom. For optimal weight distribution – the battery pack weighs 392 kg – the decision was made to distribute the battery modules from the battery pack to the front and rear of the A110. There are four modules in the front and eight in the back. For example, the 42/58 weight distribution is almost identical to that of a gasoline-powered A110 (43/57). Thanks to its low weight and good streamline, the electro A110 scores a very useful WLTP range of 420 kilometers on paper.
Elektropower
The position of the engine is unchanged, which means it is in the rear. Only the type of engine has changed. At 242 hp, the electric motor boasts 10 fewer horsepower than its gasoline brother, but thanks to readily available torque, the A110 E-ternity sprints to 100 km/h almost as fast as a base gasoline A110. That job is done in 4.5 seconds, while a regular A110 does it in 4.4 seconds. The top speed is 250 km/h.
Own gearbox
For extra-fast acceleration and high top speed, the A110 E-ternity features a two-speed gearbox. Alpine engineers could not find a gearbox within Groupe Renault that could handle the large amount of torque, so they had to manufacture a special gearbox with extra strong (double) clutch.
As mentioned, the A110 E-ternité is a concept car and thus will not appear on public roads. So until 2026 – when the A110’s electric successor will appear – you’ll have to make do with the regular A110, which was recently updated.
