What we like

There’s genuine sports car DNA lurking in the Alpine A390, despite it being a chunky electric SUV. It feels light on its feet, with crisp, balanced handling thanks to clever torque vectoring and a near-perfect weight distribution. The driving modes let you tailor the car’s behaviour from safe and grippy to surprisingly playful, even allowing some tail-out fun. And Alpine’s engineers have clearly sweated the details, giving the A390 its own chassis, suspension and steering rather than simply raiding the Renault parts bin.

What we don’t like

It’s still early days for the A390, and there’s a lot we don’t know, including what the interior looks like or how it performs on everyday roads rather than a wet test track. Weight remains an unavoidable challenge, and while Alpine’s tech does a good job of hiding it, there’s only so much physics can disguise. Plus, some drivers might be sceptical about whether any SUV, no matter how cleverly engineered, can truly replicate the feel of an A110 coupe.