Alpine has been hard at work developing an A110 to run on battery-electric power, as Groupe Renault boss Luca de Meo wants to keep the lightweight sports car’s legacy going in the era of electric.
This is what the engineers have managed so far: the A110 E-Ternité.
The task was to (not so) simply replicate the performance and power that a regular A110 offers, but with batteries and e-motors. Alpine has leant heavily on the Groupe Renault parts shelf, with battery modules and the e-motor stolen from the Megane E-Tech. Separately, though, Alpine used a bespoke dual-clutch gearbox to handle power delivery.
Here, the E-Ternité develops 238bhp, sprints to 62mph in 4.5 seconds and is capable of a 155mph top speed. Total range is rated at 261 miles. By comparison, the regular A110 has 288bhp, accelerates to 62mph in 4.4 seconds and can manage 162mph. Not far off, then.
As for weight, which is the Alpine’s specialty, the E-Ternité is 258kg heavier than a combustion engine A110.
Elsewhere, the A110’s monocoque chassis might negate the possibility of a structurally-rigid convertible, but that hasn’t stopped Alpine’s engineers from trying to solve the problem. Instead, the team have introduced a lift-out roof panel that, according to Alpine, allows you to ’drive an electric Alpine A110 in the open, without a sound.’
But, if you do want some actual noise, the engineers have been playing around with the audio to recreate the noise emitted by A110 models with engines.
As per de Meo’s directive, yes. The next-generation A110 will be pure electric, and the Alpine brand is set to expand to have its own performance hatchback using the same toolkit as the upcoming Renault 5 EV, and a new electric SUV.
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