Although it may seem a touch far-fetched to even consider that a £38,000 EV might take its cues from a 31-year-old petrol-powered hot hatch, when you see them together in a deserted Welsh car park, there’s no doubting the connection. Although one is a pastiche of the other, they exude a similar kind of aura. They look like members of the same family, the features of a grandfather clearly seem in his grandson’s face.
They also share perhaps the most important statistical qualification in all hot hatchery, with power-to-weight ratios hovering within a whisker of 150bhp per tonne. Of course they reach this figure in entirely different ways. The Williams has a 2-litre petrol engine producing 148bhp but weighs only 981kg, giving 153bhp per tonne. The Alpine, on the other hand, has a 52kWh battery that powers a single electric motor to produce 218bhp, so although it weighs an entire Caterham more at 1479kg, it is still spookily close to the Williams with 147bhp per tonne.
That is no coincidence. But it’s the number that shows how committed Alpine is to reproducing some of the magic possessed by the Williams. It’s also a good sign that they aren’t just chasing numbers with the A290.
