We’ve had our first glimpse at the prototype of the next-generation Alpine A110 sports car that’s set to break cover at the Goodwood Festival of Speed next weekend. 

The A110 is a beloved lightweight runabout in the same mould as the Lotus Elise of yore, and our first worry about the new EV version has been assuaged – it’s not a big fat SUV. 

This isn’t the final car that we’ll see later this year, that will probably appear at the Paris motor show in October, but rather a development car that uses Alpine’s new electric platform underneath the recognisable bodywork of the existing car. 

It’s a common way for engineers to test new cars out before the styling has been signed off, or in this case for a carmaker to get a bit of pre-launch publicity by teasing the reveal of the new car.  

​Alpine is billing the new A110 as “the world’s first true EV sports car”, which is bold for a performance-oriented brand that already has two electric models (the A390 and A290) on sale, but we see where Alpine’s coming from. 

We don’t have many details about the new A110 so far, but what Alpine has let slip is interesting – there are two separate battery packs to help with weight distribution and the car uses 800V tech so we can expect some spicy charging performance as well as on the road. 

There’s also a ‘dual-motor three-in-one e-axle’ that sounds very complicated, because it is. But what it does is whack two electric motors, a reduction gearbox and a silicon carbide inverter into one small package on the same axle so that you create a more dynamic drive (sending the most power to the wheel with the most grip) and even use the brake regeneration to add performance. 

The A110 Future, as Alpine is calling its prototype car, will be going up the hill at Goodwood and sitting on the Alpine stand for the rest of the festival weekend. 

Check out the other electric cars we're excited to see at Goodwood this year...