With Alpine coming to the United States in 2026, we’re keeping a close eye on what Renault’s performance division is planning. Like so many other brands, the French marque is investing in fully electric vehicles, but the combustion engine could still play a role. The ICE could be saved by making it run on hydrogen rather than fossil fuels.
Alpine’s design boss Antony Villain told Autocar the Alpenglow isn’t just for show since it was developed with a production car in mind. While the concept features a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, a bigger V-6 is already in development. It’s going to have more than the 340 horsepower offered by the four-pot. The larger internal combustion engine might find its way into a street-legal model that would be sold in a limited series.
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When asked whether the Alpenglow has a shot of making it to production, Villain replied: “Why not? Why not have that on the roads? We want to keep both ways [hydrogen ICE and EV] possible. Maybe we could do a little series of these cars for the road. That could be just right.” Alpenglow is an evolution of a namesake concept from 2022 and Renault’s go-faster division is already planning a third variant that’ll look closer to a production vehicle.
The sports car’s current iteration is off to a rocky start since it failed to take part during its maiden test in Belgium at the Spa-Francorchamps track. It wasn’t the combustion engine’s fault, but rather an electrical issue. As it stands, Alpenglow uses an LMP3 chassis from Ligier, replacing the original concept’s bespoke chassis. The smaller engine will be swapped out later this year for the new V-6.
Speaking during the Annual General Meeting last week, Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo hinted at putting the Alpenglow into production. He said the A110 is not going to be on sale for much longer but the lineup will be renewed and expanded to seven models. The portfolio will be “100-percent electric and maybe, potentially, hydrogen-engine cars.”
In the meantime, it’s sadly too late for the mid-engine A110 to come to the United States. Its electric replacement is due here in 2026 as a coupe and roadster, with an SUV arriving in 2027 and a four-door A310 swoopy sedan to follow a year later.
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