C'est bleu, c'est électrique, c'est une A390GT.
Discussion
I suspect that this one could be a little bit marmite … I hate marmite but fortunately I am enjoying the new car.
Having had a Kia Xceed PHEV as the 5 door, do everything, family type car for the last 6 years it was finally time for something new. The PHEV was bought as a potential stepping stone to full EV and, in that respect, it served its purpose well (it was also a good but ultimately dull all rounder). The longer we owned it the more I realised that I only really enjoyed driving it in EV mode and noisy engines and exhaust fumes really are undesirable. Hence, the replacement was to be full EV.
Initially I quite fancied a stupidly powerful Taycan Turbo/Turbo S but was never able to follow through with that idea due to the width and length of the things. I was then also honest enough to admit to myself that stupidly powerful no longer really works in the UK (we’d recently punted on our McLaren GT as we simply didn’t use it/it’s full performance). Macan EVs were then the next idea but discounted as I thought that the less powerful models look a bit cheap inside and are certainly not value for money. A Kia EV6 GT or a Hyundai Ioniq 5 would have been the sensible option … but then Alpine revealed the A390 and my interest was piqued.
The first demonstrators started to arrive in the UK in April and it wasn’t long before we were planning a trip up the M5 to visit Alpine Bristol. The test drive was a very relaxed affair … “Here’s the keys and a £20(iirc) voucher for the farm shop/cafe we’ve entered into Google maps. Bring it back whenever you are done”. Mrs Jerry took the wheel first and was immediately impressed, from the passenger seat I was already starting to think “I could live with this” before we even reached the cafe. Coffee and cake and then my turn to drive. First impressions … very good, that instant torque acceleration you get from an EV makes it feel quick (it is quick compared to the Kia we arrived in but not stupidly fast), very planted, good feedback through the steering. I fiddled with the various regen modes as we returned to the dealer and was quickly using the one pedal driving option which works really well. By the time we got back I’d decided we were having one and EV is the future, Mrs Jerry was equally enthusiastic so it was time to discuss options.
As part of the launch, Alpine are making 390 Premiere Edition models each being basically a GT with almost all of the options boxes ticked but a slight discount on the full price of the options if you’d ordered individually. You’d also get unique wheels and a plaque on the centre console (whoopeedoo!). Order before the end of the April and you might also get one of 50 pairs of tickets for the British GP (we were busy doing something else that weekend so this incentive didn’t bother me but there was no cash alternative). I liked the spec of the PE and therefore this is what we would have.
Delivery times were discussed and July was stated. I’m a fairly cynical person so laughed when told this and said I bet it would be more like September (more on this later). We had enough information to ponder so went home to sleep on it and then the following day ordered a PE with the Alpine Vision Bleu paint and the upgraded Devialet audio system. Deposit paid and now just wait until July.
Having heard nothing by mid June I decided to follow up and guess what … it will not be July delivery and is looking like September. Oh how I laughed again. No mention of GP tickets at this point so I just assumed we’d not been successful and, as stated earlier, wasn’t bothered as we’d not be available. However, we get to June 30th and I get an email telling me to download some tickets from the Silverstone app, 2 reserved seats in Boxpark with fast track entry! I gifted them to one of my F1 obsessed mates and his son who were able to attend on short notice and they stated that they were “mega”. Which is nice.
The delay to September brought a couple of unexpected surprises, the insurance quote dropped by maybe 20% and the WBAC valuation for the Kia increased by about £500 so all in all I cannot complain. We took the train to Bristol this time and Sam collected us in the demo A290 (a very nice hatchback) and we are soon pulling the dust sheet off this …
First impressions … Alpine Vision Bleu is absolutely stunning (it has a lovely mica fleck to it and reminds me of McLaren’s volcano paint colours), the Sabelt seats are a very nice place to be, the overtake button is a gimmick and the black wheels are so much better than I expected. As I stated on the other thread, Alpine saved me from myself by not offering an optional wheel on the PE as I would have ordered the diamond cut 21” snowflakes if available and I would have regretted it. Our resident Alpine/Renault expert HTP99 has pointed out that the locking wheel nuts are missing but I’ve not followed up on this as I think it looks cleaner/more symmetrical when all of the nuts match.
We had a quick handover of the basics, removed the rear seat middle head rest (my only complaint from the test drive was the way this interfered with the rear view) and then it was onto the M5 and home. Not surprisingly we attracted a fair bit of attention during the journey, the most inquisitive being an older gent driving a Dacia on French plates! 80ish miles of motorway driving at fairly normal British motorway speeds meant that our first full EV experience was 2.7 miles/kw which is fairly poor but my intention is to drive it no differently to any other car I have owned and just charge when required.
Pics from when we got home …
Unfortunately the new car arrival has coincided with a big DIY project I’ve got going on and I need to take advantage of my scaffolding rental and the good weather so the car has sat in the garage unused for almost the whole time since collection. However, it did get a run to Tesco where it easily consumed both our and the MIL’s weekly shop.
That is it for now. More to follow when I do finally start using it more but if you have any question, fire away.
Having had a Kia Xceed PHEV as the 5 door, do everything, family type car for the last 6 years it was finally time for something new. The PHEV was bought as a potential stepping stone to full EV and, in that respect, it served its purpose well (it was also a good but ultimately dull all rounder). The longer we owned it the more I realised that I only really enjoyed driving it in EV mode and noisy engines and exhaust fumes really are undesirable. Hence, the replacement was to be full EV.
Initially I quite fancied a stupidly powerful Taycan Turbo/Turbo S but was never able to follow through with that idea due to the width and length of the things. I was then also honest enough to admit to myself that stupidly powerful no longer really works in the UK (we’d recently punted on our McLaren GT as we simply didn’t use it/it’s full performance). Macan EVs were then the next idea but discounted as I thought that the less powerful models look a bit cheap inside and are certainly not value for money. A Kia EV6 GT or a Hyundai Ioniq 5 would have been the sensible option … but then Alpine revealed the A390 and my interest was piqued.
The first demonstrators started to arrive in the UK in April and it wasn’t long before we were planning a trip up the M5 to visit Alpine Bristol. The test drive was a very relaxed affair … “Here’s the keys and a £20(iirc) voucher for the farm shop/cafe we’ve entered into Google maps. Bring it back whenever you are done”. Mrs Jerry took the wheel first and was immediately impressed, from the passenger seat I was already starting to think “I could live with this” before we even reached the cafe. Coffee and cake and then my turn to drive. First impressions … very good, that instant torque acceleration you get from an EV makes it feel quick (it is quick compared to the Kia we arrived in but not stupidly fast), very planted, good feedback through the steering. I fiddled with the various regen modes as we returned to the dealer and was quickly using the one pedal driving option which works really well. By the time we got back I’d decided we were having one and EV is the future, Mrs Jerry was equally enthusiastic so it was time to discuss options.
As part of the launch, Alpine are making 390 Premiere Edition models each being basically a GT with almost all of the options boxes ticked but a slight discount on the full price of the options if you’d ordered individually. You’d also get unique wheels and a plaque on the centre console (whoopeedoo!). Order before the end of the April and you might also get one of 50 pairs of tickets for the British GP (we were busy doing something else that weekend so this incentive didn’t bother me but there was no cash alternative). I liked the spec of the PE and therefore this is what we would have.
Delivery times were discussed and July was stated. I’m a fairly cynical person so laughed when told this and said I bet it would be more like September (more on this later). We had enough information to ponder so went home to sleep on it and then the following day ordered a PE with the Alpine Vision Bleu paint and the upgraded Devialet audio system. Deposit paid and now just wait until July.
Having heard nothing by mid June I decided to follow up and guess what … it will not be July delivery and is looking like September. Oh how I laughed again. No mention of GP tickets at this point so I just assumed we’d not been successful and, as stated earlier, wasn’t bothered as we’d not be available. However, we get to June 30th and I get an email telling me to download some tickets from the Silverstone app, 2 reserved seats in Boxpark with fast track entry! I gifted them to one of my F1 obsessed mates and his son who were able to attend on short notice and they stated that they were “mega”. Which is nice.
The delay to September brought a couple of unexpected surprises, the insurance quote dropped by maybe 20% and the WBAC valuation for the Kia increased by about £500 so all in all I cannot complain. We took the train to Bristol this time and Sam collected us in the demo A290 (a very nice hatchback) and we are soon pulling the dust sheet off this …
First impressions … Alpine Vision Bleu is absolutely stunning (it has a lovely mica fleck to it and reminds me of McLaren’s volcano paint colours), the Sabelt seats are a very nice place to be, the overtake button is a gimmick and the black wheels are so much better than I expected. As I stated on the other thread, Alpine saved me from myself by not offering an optional wheel on the PE as I would have ordered the diamond cut 21” snowflakes if available and I would have regretted it. Our resident Alpine/Renault expert HTP99 has pointed out that the locking wheel nuts are missing but I’ve not followed up on this as I think it looks cleaner/more symmetrical when all of the nuts match.
We had a quick handover of the basics, removed the rear seat middle head rest (my only complaint from the test drive was the way this interfered with the rear view) and then it was onto the M5 and home. Not surprisingly we attracted a fair bit of attention during the journey, the most inquisitive being an older gent driving a Dacia on French plates! 80ish miles of motorway driving at fairly normal British motorway speeds meant that our first full EV experience was 2.7 miles/kw which is fairly poor but my intention is to drive it no differently to any other car I have owned and just charge when required.
Pics from when we got home …
Unfortunately the new car arrival has coincided with a big DIY project I’ve got going on and I need to take advantage of my scaffolding rental and the good weather so the car has sat in the garage unused for almost the whole time since collection. However, it did get a run to Tesco where it easily consumed both our and the MIL’s weekly shop.
That is it for now. More to follow when I do finally start using it more but if you have any question, fire away.
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