Our Cars: Alpine A290 GTS

This isn’t the first EV I’ve lived with, but it’s the one I’ve most enjoyed running. That’s largely down to its size – I believe electric cars are at their best when they are small, relatively inexpensive and mostly used for short journeys or in town. That’s precisely how I use the A290 and given the choice, I’d never be without a car like it.

I’ll explain why shortly, but first I want to address some of this car’s shortcomings and foibles – the jobs for the facelift, you might say. First up is the wind rustle from the driver’s B-pillar. Over 50mph or so, there is a very pronounced rustling sound that could drive you potty on a longer journey. I can’t say if it’s particular to this car or a generic A290 bug, but it is irritating.

And why no proper trip computer? I’ve trawled through every menu, read the manual and even searched online and as far as I can see, there isn’t one. All the car does is track energy efficiency in miles per kilowatt hour and the distance driven between manual resets. I want a long-term trip counter that runs in the background, plus a short-term one that resets at the start of each journey or day – like just about every other modern car. If the A290 has that facility and I’ve stupidly missed it, please enlighten me.