'Alpenglow' previews Alpine's road and race future
Hydrogen powered single-seater concept offers a glimpse of what's coming from Alpine's Dream Garage
You know how it goes with the really zany concepts, especially those from French manufacturers. They look sensational, promise so much, capture the hearts and minds of all who see them… then vanish from the face of the earth, never to be seen or spoken of ever again. Not this time, says Alpine, because this extraordinary ‘Alpenglow’ - five metres long, two metres wide and one metre high - really is going to influence upcoming cars for both road and track. And not be a Special K alternative.
‘Alpenglow is also more than a concept car: it is a brand manifesto, the treatise enshrining its vision and development roadmap, a tangible symbol of the Renaulution plan, paving the way for the upcoming Dream Garage models’. There you have it, straight from the horse’s mouth. So if those future electric models - the A110 replacement, the GT crossover and compact sports car - don’t look much like this, remember what they said. Now, obviously, Alpine won’t be making a production single seater designed to look like a wingsuit anytime soon, but we’re told to expect details like the light signature front and rear, plus the steering wheel, to find their way into production models. So that’s something.
What’s less clear is how the Alpenglow’s powertrain will find its way into future Alpines. Having committed to electric cars, here’s an Alpine with a hydrogen-powered combustion engine, keeping the sound we all love with reduced environmental impact. “‘Green’ hydrogen is one of the solutions that the brand is considering for sustainable mobility”, reads the press release, an interesting development given what looked like an all-out commitment on battery electric vehicles. We all know the benefits of hydrogen, but we know the drawbacks as well; getting it into a car is currently difficult (there are 15 hydrogen filling stations in the UK), a situation understandably not helped by the push to install more charging infrastructure. But with manufacturers like Toyota and BMW still persevering with hydrogen, and now Alpine as well, perhaps there’s some extra hope for combustion engines with a conscience. The press release mentions the ‘natural complementarity’ of hydrogen combustion cars like this, fuel cell EVs and BEVs.
Furthermore, though even Alpine’s upcoming race cars won’t be this bold, anything that the Alpenglow can hold sway over must be good news. Particular points of note beyond the obvious include the red centre line, snowflake wheels, helmet-shaped windscreen and a transparent spoiler. A lot of it’s see-through in fact, to catch a glimpse of the hydrogen bits at work, suggesting Alpine really is quite committed to the idea. The recycled carbon used for the Alpenglow is also set to feature in future cars. As are, of course, plenty more French tricolours, and a new shade of blue. It changes colour and shadow ‘like the surface of a lake or ocean’, you see, and what with the hydrogen and all the water is a nice link.
Finally, it’s worth pointing out the applicability of this Alpenglow concept to Alpine’s racing future, as motorsport is surely where a car like this is going to be most influential. Look at the steering wheel, for example; it’s not much of a stretch to see something that cool in a future Alpine racer. Exactly the point, they say, with an F1 look to the interior but an exterior more akin to endurance racing, which are both arenas Alpine currently competes in. The engine is in the rear, too (in case you couldn’t tell), as per the A110 and the motorsport cars. As for the future, Alpine says that the shape, headlamps and spirit will ‘draw on Alpenglow’s spectacular personality’. Right.
But let’s focus on the good rather than the oddly florid press release. This Alpenglow looks sensational, hints at a future for combustion-engined Alpines and reasserts its commitment to motorsport, all of which sound like positives in our book. Even if the result is that cars like the A110R, revealed just last week, feel almost part of Alpine history already. The future comes at you fast in 2022...
There is no one perfect solution and it’s foolhardy for anyone especially governments to think there is.
There is no one perfect solution and it’s foolhardy for anyone especially governments to think there is.
Now drill down into the detail, and some fairly fundamental questions immediately spring up.
Like, how does an endurance racer that looks like the car in the image store sufficient fuel?
Why not just use synthetic fuel if we are talking niches within niches?
There is no one perfect solution and it’s foolhardy for anyone especially governments to think there is.
Now drill down into the detail, and some fairly fundamental questions immediately spring up.
Like, how does an endurance racer that looks like the car in the image store sufficient fuel?
Why not just use synthetic fuel if we are talking niches within niches?
Perhaps interview an actual scientist who can spell it out in terms that the motoring press can actually understand using actual science and not all the marketing BS that the OEMs and fossil fuel industry keep pumping out to appeal to the naive and hopeful...
Perhaps interview an actual scientist who can spell it out in terms that the motoring press can actually understand using actual science and not all the marketing BS that the OEMs and fossil fuel industry keep pumping out to appeal to the naive and hopeful...
Hydrogen sits in exactly the same category as all of the other failed attempts to try to downsize from industrial and commercial applications into passenger cars.
Cars are an absolutely massive commercial opportunity, so it's understandably why people will keep trying.
I include the diesel engine in that list...
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