Alpine A290 vs Renault 5 Turbo 3E

The Renault 5 Turbo 3E costs £101,005 more than the Alpine A290. For that premium it adds 250 kW faster peak rapid charging, 280 kW more power and a 3.9s quicker 0-62mph time. The Alpine A290 is not just cheaper - it also offers 3 more seats (5 versus 2). On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Alpine A290 comes out ahead overall.

The Alpine A290 is £101,005 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £184 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Alpine A290 comes out roughly £101,045 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 155 miles for the Alpine A290 and 207 miles for the Renault 5 Turbo 3E - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Renault 5 Turbo 3E goes roughly 52 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 30 minutes in the Alpine A290 and 15 in the Renault 5 Turbo 3E, so the Renault 5 Turbo 3E loses less time at each stop. That makes the Renault 5 Turbo 3E the stronger long-distance car.

The Alpine A290 is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 207 mm narrower than the Renault 5 Turbo 3E. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 577 mm of total clearance for the Alpine A290 and about 370 mm of total clearance for the Renault 5 Turbo 3E.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the Alpine A290 and 84% for the Renault 5 Turbo 3E. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation.