Alpine A110 E-Ternitè, or what a fully electric version of the French sports car might look like

Every brand will sooner or later change the powertrains it uses in its vehicles, or so it seems, unless synthetic fuels end up playing a major role in a last-ditch attempt. Meanwhile, brand after brand keeps announcing and shaping its future, such as Alpine, which early last year announced that its vehicles would be fully electric and would expand its range across different segments.

At the same time, Alpine gave us two pieces of good news. On one hand, the A4810 Project prototype, which was said to be designed to run on hydrogen; a development that ties in with the announcement Alpine itself made just days ago, when it said its future models would use hydrogen V6 engines.

The latter clashes, in a way, with what Alpine presented last weekend at the French Formula 1 Grand Prix, where the Alpine team was racing at home. Also marking the 60th anniversary of its A110 model, it showed everyone in attendance the A110 E-Ternitè, a fully electric version that serves as a testbed for the brand’s future electric models.

To create the Alpine A110 E-Ternitè, the French brand had to face several challenges in keeping the DNA of the combustion-engine version in this electric prototype. The first was housing the battery modules and achieving a satisfactory weight distribution. The A110 E-Ternitè uses the same 12 battery modules as the Megane E-Tech. To do so, specific casings were created, with four modules fitted at the front and eight at the rear, and despite all this added weight, the car manages to add only 258 kg, bringing the total weight to 1,378 kg.

The other major novelty of the Alpine A110 E-Ternitè is the electric motor under its bonnet, capable of delivering a power output of 178 kW (242 CV) along with a torque of 300 Nm, plus a 62 kWh battery. Curiously, it features a two-speed dual-clutch gearbox, which allows acceleration on par with the combustion-engine version, reaching 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 250 km/h.

In terms of styling, the Alpine A110 E-Ternitè has been fitted with a body kit that includes a front spoiler, side skirts, and perhaps its most striking feature, the sunroof, which closes via carbon-fibre panels that can be removed when needed. This last aesthetic feature is undoubtedly very interesting, although unfortunately you shouldn’t expect to see it on the production A110.