Alpine A390 Pricing Kicks Off At £61,390

We came away from our first drive of the Alpine A390 last month rather liking it. It may be wildly different from anything else to wear the slanted ‘A’ badge, even its other EV, the little A290, but the crossover that Alpine insists isn’t a crossover nevertheless delivers a satisfying drive and something refreshingly different to the norm in its class.

There’s more good news when it comes to pricing, which has just been announced for the UK. In its base GT guise, with a 395bhp dual-motor setup, the A390 will start at £61,390 when it goes on sale in a few weeks’ time. And no, we don’t think the last three digits of that price is a coincidence.

To get a similar setup in arguably the A390’s biggest rival, the Porsche Macan, you’ll need the Macan 4, which produces 382bhp most of the time and 402bhp in short bursts with an overboost function. That’ll cost you over £10k more – from £71,900 – although in the Porsche, you’re getting slightly more room, a plusher-feeling interior and a stronger range figure – 379 miles to the Alpine’s 345.

It’s a similar story with the range-topping A390 GTS, which bumps power to 464bhp and brings treats such as Michelin PS 4S tyres and some superb Sabelt bucket seats. That’ll kick off at £69,390, while the equivalent Macan, the 442bhp (509bhp on overboost) 4S, will run you from £77,100.

Sitting between them in the UK range is a limited-time Premiere Edition (British buyers, Alpine told us on the launch, like these kitted-out introductory models, which is why every car seems to get one these days). Based on the GT, it adds some optional kit as standard like the GTS’ Sabelt seats and a faster 22kW AC charger, and features visual cues including a contrasting black roof, blue brake callipers, matt black wheels and a French flag on the C-pillar. It unsurprisingly splits the standard range in two on price at £65,390.

The aggressive pricing also sees the A390 undercut other sporty-ish competitors like the Audi SQ6 E-Tron and Lexus RZ 550e F Sport, although not the Kia EV6 GT. There remains one other elephant in the room, too: the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. It may be chasing a slightly different audience to the Alpine, but it remains the benchmark for fun EVs, and, with Hyundai’s current £1500 EV grant applied, costs from £63,600. So, would your money be on the boxy Korean drift machine or the svelte French grand tourer?