Alpine recently inaugurated its new electric era with the launch of the A290, the first of three models that make up the brand’s 100% electric “Dream Garage” and that will include a GT C-Crossover and the new A110 in the coming years.
However, the Dieppe-based company is looking to the future with the Aplenglow Hy4, a true rolling laboratory designed as a racing car, based on a carbon monocoque and equipped with a 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder engine that develops 340 hp.
This hydrogen-powered concept, which recently took to the track for a series of laps at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps, could potentially have a road version, as Philippe Krief, CEO of Alpine, admitted in an interview with “Piston Heads” that he is “open-minded” about alternatives to traditional combustion energy, including hydrogen.
“The Alpenglow is important for the development of style, technology, but it is important for the brand. It is very important. Producing the Alpenglow will show that we have the ability to play in other fields. I think if everything goes well, we will be able to buy one by 2028,” emphasized Philippe Krief.
It should be noted that although the Aplenglow Hy4 is equipped with a 2.0-liter engine, with 4 inline cylinders and a turbocharger, Alpine is working on a more powerful hydrogen V6 for the concept, but Krief acknowledges that the necessary hydrogen storage tank could be a problem.
“For these cars, the hydrogen tank can be a problem, but some technologies are emerging that talk about tanks in polymorphic forms”, where a thermoplastic tank is quite resistant when cooled.
Currently, the Alpenglow Hy4 is equipped with three tanks that store hydrogen in the form of gas (2.1 kg each) at high pressure: 700 bar. The tanks are located in the side pods and behind the cockpit, in ventilated compartments isolated from the interior. A pressure regulator reduces the pressure from 700 to 200 bar, before lowering it to 40 bar, with direct injection into the combustion chamber.
But before the arrival of the hydrogen model, it is certain that Alpine will launch the electric successor of the A110, a model that will be built on “a completely new platform developed by the brand.” The new platform will give rise to three models: “the A110, but also a 2+2 version and a spider,” added Philippe Krief.
