Say hello to the Alpine A290 Rallye, the brand’s first all-electric customer competition car, intended for both one-make events and open races. It’s set to debut later this year.
Though the running gear has been adapted for motorsport, the front-driven e-motor remains unchanged, maintaining a punchy 215hp and 299Nm of torque. Alpine has instead refined the ECU and revamped the monitoring systems, allowing the 52kWh battery to work more efficiently.
What’s more, the Rallye will get a different sort of sound generator from the standard car, which tunes in with the driver’s throttle inputs to make...noise. Precisely what sort of noise, we’ll have to wait and see.
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Looks the part, too, no? The body gets a roof scoop and a black hood with pins, finished up with a funky blue-and-white livery. Can’t forget those 18-inch Evo Corse alloys, either, painted in the customary shade of white and wrapped around a set of Michelin rubber.
Tucked behind those will be 350mm brake discs at the front and 280mm ones at the rear, hooked up to a race-bred ABS control unit. Elsewhere, the modified suspension is bolstered by ALP Racing shocks, while a ZF self-locking limited-slip diff is there to help around the twisty bits.
Inside, the Rallye will get an FIA-grade welded roll cage and Sabelt bucket seats. Most important of all is the inclusion of a hydraulic handbrake—imperative for maximum slip and slide around a tight loose gravel stage.
Customers will have their first chance to compete in a single-race event later this year in France, where Alpine will provide technical support where needed. At certain fixtures, the manufacturer will even have its own paddock and dedicated charging infrastructure in place. Talk about getting your money’s worth, eh?
Money that sits in the region of €59,990 (around P4.78 million) before taxes on this side. Whew.
NOTE: This story first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
