Alpine A110 Electric: The Full Interview with Alpine's CEO, Philippe Krief

The original Alpine A110 built its reputation on being light, agile and honest to drive, a car that never needed big horsepower numbers to be genuinely thrilling. At Goodwood Festival of Speed 2026, Alpine showed the world the platform underpinning its electric successor for the first time, in mule form ahead of full production.

DriverReviews was incredibly fortunate to secure an exclusive interview with Alpine's CEO, Philippe Krief. DriverReviews presenter Gordon Shedden, a multiple BTCC Champion, spoke with Krief to talk about the future of the A110, when we can expect to see it on the road, and how Alpine is approaching the move to electric. The full conversation is below.

Watch the exclusive DriverReviews interview with Philippe Krief here.

Shedden: What for you was the one real key thing this car had to retain on the new platform?

Krief: There's actually three things. So, the first thing that makes people love the A110 is the design, the external design, because it has a timeless shape. If you do that with an electric car, the first thing you need to do is respect that: it has more or less the same dimensions, but the ratio between the length and the height is first. Second, it's of course agility and having the new A110 being fun to drive, and this will be respected and will probably be even better than the actual – A110 - one; this is the ambition we have. And thirdly, which is also important, is, the big revolution of this car, which is around the cockpit, because we want to create a specific cockpit that gives the feel of a cockpit; the one you have when you're in the A110. To feel the car around you, and this car will have a lot of new things to have that feeling.

Shedden: The A110 has always been such a driver's car, and the theory was that it doesn't need massive horsepower to be fantastic to drive. With the battery position you've chosen, do you think you're going to retain that real driver's experience with this new car?

Krief: This is very important. We always prefer to have 10 kilos less and 10 horsepower more. And this car, we'll be able to achieve, without a lot of power, exactly this kind of feeling, because the horsepower allows you to go in a straight line, but in the curve, in all the curves, you need less kilos, and you need grip. This is what we are going to achieve with this car.

Shedden: The car we're seeing this weekend is in its mule form, the underpinnings of the new car. How far is it from production, and when are we going to see it on the roads in the UK?

Krief: So, this car is so significant for what we call the platform, so the chassis, the underbody, the battery, the powertrain. In terms of the top hat, of course the design will be different. And so, it means that we are starting the development, but this will be finished by the end of next year. So, by the end of next year, we'll be able to see the car. But we are going to do at least two steps in revealing the A110. The first one will be at the Paris Motor Show, and then the next one, we still need to decide when, probably in spring, where we will reveal more about the cockpit.

Breaking Down the Interview

The three things Alpine will not compromise on

Shedden asked for the single most important thing to carry over to the electric A110, Krief gave three answers instead of one: the exterior proportions, the driving feel, and a completely reworked cockpit. Of the three, the design answer was the most specific. Rather than talking about staying true to the brand in general terms, the CEO went straight to the length-to-height ratio, the exact proportion that gives the A110 its low, planted stance on the road.

Weight over power, on purpose

The most quotable line of the interview came in response to Shedden’s question about the battery position and whether it would preserve the driving experience. "We always prefer to have 10 kilos less and 10 horsepower more" is a philosophy that runs directly against the wider trend in electric performance cars, where bigger battery packs and bigger power figures have become the default way to impress. Alpine's stated approach is the opposite: chase weight reduction and grip before power, because that is what made the original A110 rewarding in the bends rather than the straights.

A cockpit reveal of its own

Krief raised the cockpit as the "big revolution" planned for the car without being asked about it directly, and confirmed a dedicated reveal for the cockpit, is planned separately. That suggests Alpine is treating the interior as a standalone piece of engineering and design work rather than a footnote to the exterior reveal.

The timeline: platform by 2027, two reveals to come

Development on the new platform, meaning the chassis, underbody, battery and powertrain, is targeted to finish by the end of 2027. The exterior design ("top hat") will differ from the mule car shown at Goodwood. Alpine plans to reveal the car in stages: first at the Paris Motor Show, followed by a second reveal focused specifically on the cockpit, expected in spring, with exact timing still to be confirmed.

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