Boss Krief confirms new electric platform can also accommodate “engine, gearbox, fuel tank and all you need”
The next-generation Alpine A110 could be fitted with a combustion engine, brand boss Philippe Krief has confirmed – although he insists the first focus is on developing an uncompromised electric sports car.
The new model is due to arrive next year as the successor to the current two-seater in coupe and convertible form, and will sit on a bespoke new architecture, the Alpine Performance Platform (APP).
As previously reported by Autocar, the APP will also be used by the Renault 5 Turbo E, and is designed to accept an innovative powertrain featuring a pair of rear motors, with extensive torque vectoring used in a bid to offer the same ‘lightweight’ feel as the current combustion model. In-wheel motors, as seen on the 5 Turbo 3E, could eventually be offered, too.
Alpine has now shown more details of the platform, which use 800V technology, has an aluminium architecture to reduce weight and increase agility, and has two split battery packs – one stacked in the front of the car, the other in the rear – to allow the car to sit lower and feature a 40/60 front-rear balance.
Krief said that split battery design “is a technical complication”, but added “it was necessary because otherwise the car would have been too high”.
Krief declined to give details of the battery size, adding that the focus was “that we are developing a sports car, so we want the performance to be track ready”. He said the A110 would offer more than 340 miles of range, a figure he added was set so that it could complete three laps of the Nordschleife with “the full potential and capacities of the battery”.
The front battery pack is stacked up and largely sits where a combustion engine would, which Krief said presented “an opportunity” to adapt the platform to accept one. He said: “We asked what it would mean to make the platform compatible with an ICE. If the answer would have been that it would make the electric car worse, there’s no way we’d have done it. But with some small modifications on the platform we can accommodate an engine, gearbox, fuel tank and all you need.”
Krief declined to give details of what combustion unit might go into the A110, but did admit that it would likely only be offered in certain markets, particularly the USA where EV target rules were recently rolled back making an electric A110 less appealing to buyers. He added: “This segment is about 350,000 vehicles per year, and 50% of that is in the US, with 25% in Asia. For now, our business is to focus on the 25% in Europe, but naturally the growth could come from the US, so we wanted to keep that possibility.”
Notably, Alpine is also developing a 2+2 version of the A110, which Krief said will offer more than 370 miles of range. That is because the different use car of that car, and stretching the platform to allow for the two rear seats, meant the batteries could be placed under the floor in a skateboard design.
Krief said that Alpine’s current focus was purely on developing the A110 family because of its importance to the firm, and confirmed that plans under previous management for a pair of large SUVs had been scrapped.
