Although in the past four or five years, BEV battery cars have occupied the forefront of public opinion in the global automobile market, especially in the Chinese market, but in the past two years, due to the changes in the global geopolitical situation, the intention of Western countries to use "environmental protection policies" as a way to contain developing countries has been shattered, and even "set on fire" to make the entire European country worry about energy. The shortage of energy has led to a decline in consumer enthusiasm for these "new energy" vehicles, and although it has not reached the "shutdown" state, the sales of battery cars have long been gone. In view of this, many previously wavering car companies have begun to return to the embrace of fuel internal combustion engines, but some car companies that have just changed their business are extremely embarrassing, such as Renault is one of them. However, a huge traditional car company can not be helpless in the face of this situation, since the mass market battery car can not get considerable sales, so can it open up other "tracks" such as performance battery cars?
Pictured: Alpine's A290, a B-segment performance car based on the new Renault 5 E-Tech, has been unveiled a few days ago, and the overall appearance of this car is similar to the A290 β concept car, but with some minor improvements.
Pictured: The car has four-wheel independent suspension like the Renault 5 E-Tech, but its suspension system has been further tuned and upgraded by Alpine.
In fact, some car companies that have only completed the transformation in recent years have this idea, such as the previously introduced Lancia, which launched its high-performance HF version immediately after the launch of Ypsilon. On the surface, it seems that it is because of these high-performance models to raise the brand image, but when the basic model cannot be sold, the performance car may be a good "track", because they have more attraction points, and the so-called performance car production cost of the battery car may not be as high as the traditional performance car, so it is also possible to go by volume.
Pictured: The braking system is powered by a Brembo from the A110.
Pictured: The tyres are a collaboration between Alpine and Michelin, with the Pilot Sport EV in the summer, the Pilot Sport S5 in the wet and dry, and the Pilot Alpin 5 in the snow.
The most basic thing for a performance car is to have strong power and excellent handling, and the most traditional approach for internal combustion engine models is to use a more powerful engine to make it more powerful, so engine research and development will be a huge expense, plus the strengthening and optimization of vehicle control will further increase the cost. But the battery car is different, with a frame with ridiculously high torsional rigidity figures, and even with a sound suspension architecture, it is difficult to achieve high handling for a simple reason: inertia! Car companies still need to work on the chassis, but the cost of R&D in terms of power will save a lot of money, after all, making a motor is not as complicated as developing an engine. Come and go, the cost savings can not only reduce the price of the car but also increase the profit, so even if it does not go to the volume, it can also make money. So, it doesn't seem like a problem to take the new track of battery performance cars.
Renault also has a "premeditated" plan in terms of battery performance cars, remember as early as February this year (2024) we reported that the performance car A290 developed by Renault subsidiary Alpine based on the new Renault 5 E-Tech is being tested in winter? After 4 months, this A290 is finally on the market. As previously reported, the exterior design of this car is almost the same as the previously released A290 β concept car, with some slight optimizations. What sets it apart from the concept car is in terms of performance, as Alpine announced when it first unveiled the concept car, which is a front-wheel drive model, but it will be equipped with two electric motors on its front axle to produce a strong output. The A290 doesn't use this setup and is powered by a single electric motor, but the power options vary depending on the variant, with 174 hp on the base and GT Premium variants, and 215 hp on the more powerful GT Performance or GTS variants. However, although the horsepower of the motor is different, its torque is the same 300 Nm. In terms of range, it will be equipped with a 52kWh battery pack with a range of 380km, but the battery pack only supports 100KV DC charging, which takes half an hour to complete from 15% to 80%.
From the point of view of parameters, the power performance is by no means the highlight of this car, because just looking at the voltage × current power of the motor is not an essential proud capital at all. It's still about the handling. As mentioned earlier, it is based on the new Renault 5 E-Tech, so the Renault 5 E-Tech's independent rear suspension has been inherited, and the A290 is one of the few B-segment performance cars with four-wheel independent suspension. The four-wheel independent suspension gives it more room for tuning, and Alpine has also made some upgrades, such as a custom set of anti-roll bars for the front and rear suspensions, making the A290 likely to be the most handling in its class. I just don't know how Alpine overcame the problems that are common in battery cars, such as having a low roll center that limits vehicle handling, etc.
Figure: A290 standard battery pack is not large, 52 degrees of battery pack, if calculated according to 6 kilograms of electricity, this battery also has more than 300 kilograms, and the handling and weight of the car are a pair of contradictions, which comes first, I believe that Apline's engineers will not forget their roots for advertising.
Some of the car's competitors say that it is the Abarth 500e, but the Abarth is an A-class model, which is not competitive at all, and it should be the aforementioned Lancia Ypsilon HF and Mini Cooper SE (J01), the three are all B-class models, all have a deep history of the car series, and have their own loyal fans, the key is that they are both high-performance models. What if we look back at the traditional car companies and new forces in the domestic market? It seems that no company has the courage and courage to challenge this field, and there is a saying in the automotive industry: it is easy to build a big car, but it is difficult to build a small car! Like those new forces who stand on the stage day by day and blow "corner overtaking", or do they show some real skills and build A-class, B-class or even C-class battery cars that can be on the top of "high performance" to come out and take a look? Don't just build those battery luxury cars that claim to be D-class, E-class or even F-class all day long, and honestly, is it worth showing off in an electric car with this thing?
So, as a consumer, which B-class battery high-performance model will you choose?