First official images of the A110 test mule show significantly wider arches
Test mule for crucial next-generation sports car will be displayed as part of an ‘Alpine moment’
The next-generation Alpine A110 will make its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in prototype form.
The French sporting brand has released the first image of the test mule that will be displayed as part of an ‘Alpine moment’ alongside several variants of the outgoing petrol model.
It confirmed that the prototype, named A110 Future, is underpinned by the same Alpine Performance Platform (APP) as the production car.
However, it appears to wear the previous A110’s bodywork, with wide wheel-arch extensions hinting at the new iteration having a significantly wider track.
The APP has been developed with weight reduction as a priority, with aluminium construction and 800V electricals. Notably, it features two battery packs, rather than one larger unit as is conventional for high-performance EVs.
The two batteries are positioned over the front and rear axles, giving a 40:60 weight distribution. That is slightly further rear-biased than the petrol A110, which is split 44:56.
Alpine CEO Philippe Krief previously said the split-pack design was chosen so the electric A110 could sit as low as its petrol predecessor, while also bringing more than 340 miles of range.
He added that it had been conceived to complete three laps of the Nürburgring Nordschleife without the battery derating (losing performance due to heat).
The positioning of the rear battery approximately where the petrol engine sits in today’s A110 also presents “an opportunity” to convert the EV to combustion power if needed, said Krief.
But he added that this capability has not been included at the cost of the car’s potential as an EV: “If the answer would have been that, it would make the electric car worse. There’s no way we’d have done it.”
Alpine confirmed that the A110 will be powered by two rear-mounted motors with silicon-carbide inverters. This suggests a different set-up from the related Renault 5 Turbo 3E mega-hatch, which uses two in-wheel motors from UK firm Protean for a combined output of 533bhp.
Krief told Autocar that the new A110 will have a kerb weight on a par with its ICE rivals today, suggesting it will be around 1500kg.
That’s significantly heavier than the current A110, which is around 1100kg, but Alpine has previously touted the potential of torque-vectoring technology to make EVs feel as agile as ICE equivalents.
Although it’s rare for car makers to present test mules, particularly on a stage as large as the Festival of Speed, Alpine’s decision to do so represents a significant step towards the launch of the electric A110 in 2027.
The prototype’s debut will come just a week after Alpine produced the last of 28,701 petrol-powered A110s built at its Dieppe factory.
