Alpine A110 Sculpture : a first glimpse of the 2027 Berlinette

On 14 September, we attended a private unveiling of a sculpture offering the first glimpse of the third-generation Alpine A110.

Wider and more commanding, the future electric sports car has a stronger presence without severing its ties to its predecessors. Beneath the veiled silhouette, its new architecture begins to reveal its secrets. And, as the Alpine team confirmed, the platform could also accommodate a combustion engine.

Alpine A110 Sculpture: a first encounter

Up close, its presence is the first thing that strikes you. Even beneath its blue veil, the future A110 looks more firmly planted on its wheels. Its volumes have grown, its wings are more pronounced, and the silhouette carries itself with newfound confidence. It suggests a more mature Berlinette, with lines that remain deeply connected to those of the current car.

There is something reassuring about that continuity. The move to electric power could have upset the proportions and produced a silhouette alien to the model’s history. Instead, this first glimpse suggests Alpine has shaped the architecture to preserve its design language. The styling moves forward without breaking away. The A110 seems to have grown up while showing due respect for its forebear.

The sculpture cannot, of course, tell the whole story. The drapery follows the wings, picks out the waist and hints at a compact cockpit. It reveals a stance rather than a finished body. Yet the overall balance is already apparent: a tightly packaged cabin, stronger shoulders and sculpted flanks that keep the larger volumes from looking heavy.

The treatment of the flanks shows this evolution particularly well. The characteristic creases of the original Berlinette and the current combustion-engined A110 have been reinterpreted with greater sculptural depth. Their movement draws inspiration from the silhouette of Concorde on take-off. That aviation reference informs a specific gesture: the sweep of the side motif, the tension in a line, the way one surface flows into the rear wings.

Alpine also invokes the moment Concorde breaks the sound barrier to explain the presentation of the sculpture. The veil appears caught just as the wind is about to carry it away. That suspended energy suggests lightness and airflow, though it does not yet reveal the production car’s aerodynamic solutions.

Its face remains a secret too. The headlamp design cannot be seen, but the intentions presented to us point to a more serious, more aggressive expression. The twin-light theme will remain, with four light sources making the A110 recognisable when illuminated. The circular surrounds will evolve, however: the signature will survive in a new form.

Inside, the change should be felt from the moment you settle in. At our presentation, Alpine described a more reclined driving position and an interior clearly differentiated from other Renault Group products. Official communications confirm a Formula 1-inspired position, with a very low seat, an upright steering wheel and the essential controls close at hand. The cabin is intended to play a full part in the identity of this new generation.

It is in this relationship with the driver that Alpine’s promise of simplicity will have to prove itself. The engineering will be sophisticated; using it should feel intuitive. The aim is a car whose responses you can understand without having to think about the systems orchestrating them.

Alpine A110 Sculpture: a new electric platform with room for combustion power

Several technical choices beneath that body have now been confirmed. The third generation will use the Alpine Performance Platform, or APP, with an aluminium structure assembled using bonding and riveting. Alpine has also announced all-aluminium suspension assemblies. This foundation is intended to reconcile the demands of electrification with those of a sports car.

Battery placement is central to that balance. The coupé configuration, previewed by the A110 FUTURE development mule shown at Goodwood in July, divides the batteries between the front and rear of the cabin. This preserves a low seating position and a roof height comparable to the current A110’s. In the mule, 25% of the stored energy sits at the front and 75% at the rear.

Those figures describe how the battery capacity is divided, not the car’s weight distribution, which Alpine puts at 40% front and 60% rear. The APP also uses an 800-volt electrical architecture and high-energy-density cell-to-pack batteries, with the cells integrated directly into the packs rather than grouped into intermediate modules.

Two electric motors are mounted at the rear. In the A110 FUTURE, Alpine describes permanent-magnet synchronous motors capable of reaching 21,500rpm, paired with silicon-carbide inverters. These are specifications for the development mule, not yet a definitive technical sheet for the production car.

Power output and battery capacity also remain unconfirmed. In an article published on 3 July 2026, L’Argus reported, on the basis of its own information, around 480hp and a 70kWh battery. They are credible indications, but should still be treated as provisional.

The same caution applies to weight. Top Gear and Evo report a target of around 1,400kg, while Auto Express cites 1,450kg. These numbers suggest what Alpine is aiming for, without establishing the homologated weight of any particular version. The challenge will be to preserve the Berlinette’s agility despite the extra weight that electrification brings.

Alpine is placing particular emphasis on controlling torque at the rear wheels. Alpine Active Torque Vectoring can adjust its distribution every ten milliseconds. Version 2.0, demonstrated on the mule, helps manage the car’s responses both under acceleration and when the driver lifts off. The technology will be sophisticated, but the ambition is for it to feel natural from behind the wheel.

Sustained performance is another challenge. Evo reports Alpine’s target of charging from 10 to 80% in fifteen minutes, alongside thermal management designed for prolonged circuit use. These remain development goals; the conditions and results will need to be specified for the production car.

Our conversations with the team also confirmed an important point, emphasised several times during the unveiling: the APP can accommodate a combustion engine. That capability is built into the platform. Electric power remains the priority for the A110 programme, but Alpine retains the option of taking another path.

This does not mean a combustion-engined version has been approved, still less that it has a launch date. The technical possibility is confirmed; whether it becomes a production model remains an open question. For Berlinette enthusiasts, it is nevertheless welcome news: combustion power has not yet reached the end of the road at the French manufacturer.

Whatever becomes of that option, the next A110 will be built in France, at the Dieppe factory. This confirmed manufacturing base extends the lineage beyond the design and keeps the new generation in the brand’s historic home.

We will have to wait a little longer to see the car itself. According to the timetable discussed at our meeting, it could appear as a show car in 2027, followed by a gradual reveal through to the end of the year. That sequence has yet to be confirmed; the sculpture, meanwhile, will be displayed at the Paris Motor Show from 12 October.

What stays with us from this first encounter is, above all, a sense of maturity. The future A110 has a stronger presence, yet its lines remain instantly familiar. Electric power seems to have found its place within the Berlinette’s silhouette.

Now it must bring the same sense of balance to the way the car takes a corner.

Source: Alpine Cars