Alpine will develop its own platform for electric sports cars after separating from Lotus

Alpine has decided to break its collaboration agreement with Lotus to focus on the development of its own exclusive platform. An architecture that will be the base used for its 100% electric sports future. Alpine will transform into an electric car brand by the end of this decade.

The phrase is from Jo Ramírez, the legendary coordinator of the McLaren Formula 1 team for almost two decades: "Alain and Fernando have told me that I am going to have a really good time with this car" (although he used other words).

When he talks about Alain and Fernando, he refers to Alain Prost and Fernando Alonso, and his comments were what finally convinced the Mexicans. From what they told him, he recently bought an Alpine A110S, and he smiles when he talks about it.

The resurgence of Alpine in search of a role similar to that of Mercedes-AMG and BMW M

The two world champions know the reborn A110 very well because the brand left them —or left them— when they worked at the Formula 1 team. What this sentence reveals is that Ramírez, in whose basement a Porsche Cayman also sleeps, has a very special car. Alpine has managed to endow, thanks to extreme lightness, a very marked personality to a firm that was asleep, if not almost dead. Its current parent company, the Renault Group, picked it up with a token commercial activity, and little by little it is turning it into the group's high-performance reference in a role similar to that of Mercedes-AMG or BMW M.

For some time now, the blue A for Alpine has been seen on the epidermis of Renault models, such as the sportier version (Esprit Alpine) of the recently introduced Renault Rafale. The commercial move, through its Formula 1 team, its new car for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and upcoming models from a catalog that is rapidly electrifying, is to endow the automobile group with its sporting spirit.

If at the time they already broke pears with Caterham, from whom they repurchased half the property of this company in 2014, now they have come down with other similar information. In 2021 they signed an agreement with the British Lotus with the idea of developing a common platform in their electrification plans. This is no longer going to happen.

Alpine works on its own platform for electric sports cars

During the presentation in Paris of the Rafale, in statements to the media during the public presentation of the Renault Rafale, Luca de Meo confirmed the rumor that Alpine will work on its own exclusive platform. The Italian said "We had long talks and finally decided to build our own base", as Autocar collects. He also confirmed that there will be more than one product based on this new electrical architecture. It makes perfect sense considering the high cost of developing something like this from scratch and not sharing the costs with other companies. What is unknown is whether the course change will affect Alpine's initial plan to launch its electric sports car in 2026.

The separation has been executed on friendly terms, and they do not rule out joining again in the future with other projects. The final goal is none other than to create high-performance vehicles that serve as a reference for the group. More details about Alpine's electric vehicle plans will be revealed on June 26 during investor day expos.

Alpine is slated to become a dedicated EV maker by the end of the decade, launching five new models over the next five years. What is not known is if Jo Ramírez will want one of these models; what is known is that he will be very attentive... and he is happy behind the wheel of his gray A110.