First look at electric Alpine A390 SUV ahead of debut next month

The Alpine A390 will arrive next year as the spearhead of the French brand’s ambitious plan to rival the likes of Porsche with a range of luxurious electric cars.

It will be shown in A390 Beta concept form at next month’s Paris motor show, but the production version has now been spotted testing on public roads.

New images of a camouflaged test car reveal it to be a high-sided coupé-crossover similar in silhouette to the Nissan Ariya – with which it's expected to share a platform.

The A390 will be comprehensively upgraded compared with that car, however, with Alpine targeting the likes of the Audi SQ6 E-tron and Porsche Macan Electric.

Agility is being prioritised in the car’s development, as Alpine design chief Antony Villain told Autocar: “The idea is to use the driving experience of the A110 [sports car] and duplicate it in different segments.

“We want something high-performance, sporty and energised. We don’t want something that just goes in straight lines super-quickly.”

Villain added that Alpine is considering “various technical solutions” to make a chunky electric SUV handle like its petrol-engined sports car, such as torque vectoring and four-wheel steering.

It's therefore likely that range-topping versions of the A390 will feature a dual-motor powertrain, which would enable torque vectoring across both the front and rear axles.

Nonetheless, it will make concessions to daily usability: Alpines are now designated based on their positioning, with the ‘10’ or ‘90’ denoting whether it’s focused on outright performance or practicality. The A390 falls into the latter camp.

The A390 is the second of seven EVs in Alpine’s ‘dream garage’, which are intended to transform the Renault-owned brand from a niche sports car maker to a global premium contender.