New Alpine Alpenglow concept makes Paris Motor Show debut
The Alpenglow concept takes inspiration from the A220 Alpine racer and features a hydrogen powertrain
Alpine is a company preparing for an all-electric future - and the Renault-owned performance marque has issued a calling card for what’s to come with this dramatic concept. Called Alpenglow, it's been revealed at the 2022 Paris Motor Show.
The Alpine Alpenglow - which has the look of a Le Mans sports prototype racer - is described as “the starting point for all future Alpine designs, technologies and breakthroughs”. In real-world term, that’s likely to mean more for Alpine’s project to build a successor to the current A110 than it is the widely expected versions of the Renault 5 EV and an as-yet-unseen SUV.
However, elements like some of the surfacing and even the colour could expand across the new Alpine range as the company realigns itself to electric motoring. In fact, Alpine says the light treatment - with a red strip running across the nose and complex LED elements at either side, then ultra-sharp vertical tail-lights - will directly inspire its future models.
The concept is over five metres long and two metres wide, but only a metre high - further proof of its inspiration in track cars. Alpine itself says that its long, slim wings are a nod to the A220 Alpine racer from the sixties. Indeed, the show car is also a single-seater, with the driver positioned in the middle of the vehicle, between two high-pressure (700bar) hydrogen tanks.
Alpine says the choice of powertrain expresses a belief that it should be investigating more than regular EV motor power for its future models. A hydrogen-powered hybrid combustion engine is “environmentally friendly and comes with the inimitable driving pleasure that this technology provides”, the firm says - although beyond acknowledging where the hydrogen is stored in the Alpenglow, it provides no further details on the engine, hybrid system or any power outputs or performance figures.
Inside, there’s a steering wheel inspired by those on LMP1 racing cars and featuring controls for many of the vehicle’s functions, a prism key slot that lights up to complete an illuminated dashboard pyramid as the car fires up, and triangle motifs on detail elements, designed to reference Alpine mountain ranges.
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