Alpine A290 Buying Guide: What to Check Before You Buy
The A290 is Alpine’s first electric car and its first four-door, and it is the model that will introduce most people to the brand. It shares its platform and battery with the Renault 5, but it is not a badge exercise. Alpine fitted a bespoke subframe to reposition the motor for better handling, retuned and stiffened the suspension, added hydraulic bump stops and fitted unique front and rear anti-roll bars.
It is also very new, which changes what a buyer should worry about. There is not yet a meaningful fault history to study. What there is instead is a trim structure that is genuinely easy to get wrong, and a set of electric-specific checks that most buyers have never had to make before. This guide covers both.
At a glance: which A290 is which
| Trim | Motor | Battery | Positioning |
|---|---|---|---|
| GT | 180 hp | 52 kWh | Entry car, longer range |
| GT Premium | 180 hp | 52 kWh | Comfort and materials upgrade, same power as GT |
| GT Performance | 220 hp | 52 kWh | More power, fewer comfort items than Premium |
| GTS | 220 hp | 52 kWh | Power and the full equipment list |
Three things to fix in your head before you start looking:
- Every A290 uses the same 52 kWh battery. There are two power outputs across the range, and the battery does not change between them. So battery size is never the question. The question is which motor and which equipment.
- There are two power outputs, not four. GT and GT Premium produce 180 hp; GT Performance and GTS produce 220 hp. Published bhp conversions vary between 178 and 217 depending on the source, so treat any precise figure in a car advert with mild suspicion.
- GT Premium and GT Performance are the confusable pair. They launched at the same list price, with GT Premium adding equipment on the lower-powered motor and GT Performance taking the more powerful motor while doing without some of the creature comforts. Second-hand, two cars at the same money can differ by 40 hp or by a materially different interior, and the advert will very often just say “A290”.
Range, and what it actually means
The 180 hp cars carry an official WLTP range of around 236 miles, and the 220 hp cars around 226, the difference coming partly from grippier tyres on the faster versions. Alpine’s own range calculator suggests 150 to 160 miles is more realistic on the motorway in good weather, and less in the cold.
That gap is not a defect and it is not unusual for the class. It matters because a used car advert quoting the WLTP figure is quoting a test number, not a promise. Rapid charging peaks at 100 kW.
What to check
The fault record is thin, and that cuts both ways
As of mid-2026, The Car Expert records no DVSA safety recalls affecting the Alpine A290. That is genuinely good news, but on a car this new it also means the absence of evidence is doing some of the work. There is not yet enough fleet history for reliability data to be meaningful.
Check by VIN with a dealer rather than relying on a model-level position, since recall records change and a specific car may carry outstanding work.
Battery health and storage
Battery health is assessable by diagnostic scan and cannot be judged by looking at the car. A car with meaningful mileage and no dealer or recognised specialist history is a car whose high-voltage system has never been properly interrogated.
Ask when the car was last charged and driven. An electric car that has sat for long periods at a very high or very low state of charge has not been looked after in the way an EV needs.
Warranty position
On a car of this age the remaining warranty is often the single largest piece of value attached to the specific car rather than the model. Establish it by VIN with a dealer rather than assuming from the registration date.
The physical checks
The A290 is a hot hatch that gets used like one. Check wheels for kerb damage, check tyre condition and age, and check the driver’s seat and interior contact surfaces. Test every electrical and infotainment function rather than sampling.
Specification is where the money is
The A290’s four trims sit close together and look almost identical. The visible differences on the entry GT amount to different tyres, unbranded brake calipers and a missing badge letter. Everything else that separates the trims is inside the car.
The audio system is one of the clearest discriminators: the upgraded Devialet system appears on GT Premium and GTS, while GT and GT Performance carry the standard system. Nappa leather, the higher-specification infotainment and the track telemetry function also move between trims rather than being universal.
This is exactly the kind of thing that gets lost in a used advert. A seller who bought the car second-hand themselves may genuinely not know which trim they own, and “A290 GT” in a car advert title can mean a base GT or be shorthand for any of the four.
Beyond the mechanicals: history and provenance red flags
- Service history, which on an EV means fewer visits but not none.
- Mileage that does not add up against the MOT record, once the car is old enough to have one.
- Outstanding finance, which on a car this new is more likely rather than less.
- Accident or write-off markers, and on a battery-electric car the repair history around the floor structure deserves particular attention.
- Specification that does not match the car advert, which on the A290 is the most common gap of all.
None of these require you to be in the same room as the car. All of them are checkable in advance.
What a car advert and a test drive will not tell you
It helps to think of an A290 purchase as three layers of truth:
- What the seller says. Useful, but unverified.
- What the records say. MOT and mileage consistency, finance, stolen and write-off markers. This is data verification, and it can be done before you travel.
- What only a physical inspection reveals. Battery state of health, suspension and tyre condition, the things that need the car in front of you.
Most buyers do layer 1, go straight to a test drive, and never do layer 2 at all.
To be clear about the limits: data verification confirms a car is what it claims to be on paper. It does not replace a physical inspection, and on an electric car it does not replace a battery health check. The two do different jobs.
How Chequered Past helps
Chequered Past is the layer-2 step. You give us the registration; we check the official records on that car: the factory spec, MOT and mileage consistency, outstanding finance, stolen and write-off markers, keepers and the value, and we’re explicit about anything we couldn’t confirm.
What it does: tells you, before you travel, whether a car is what it says it is. What it does not do: replace a physical inspection, or a battery health assessment. We will always tell you where that line is.
Run a history check on an A290 you’re considering →
Frequently asked questions
Which A290 should I buy? It depends whether you want the power or the equipment. GT Premium and GT Performance launched at the same price, one adding comfort and materials on the lower-powered motor, the other taking the stronger motor with fewer comforts. The GTS has both. Work out which car is actually in front of you before you compare prices.
Is the Alpine A290 just a Renault 5? They share a platform and a battery, but Alpine changed the subframe, the suspension tune, the bump stops and the anti-roll bars. The relationship is real, the cars are not the same.
What range does the A290 have? Officially around 236 miles for the 180 hp cars and around 226 for the 220 hp cars. Alpine’s own guidance suggests substantially less on the motorway, and less again in cold weather.
Do I need the car’s registration? Yes. The free check and the £10 vehicle history check both run on the registration.
Other Alpine guides: Alpine buying guide hub
Chequered Past is an independent analysis service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Alpine, Automobiles Alpine, Renault Group, or any vehicle manufacturer. Data is drawn from licensed DVLA and DVSA records via our data provider.