The A110's soul was never its engine.

Alpine just built its final petrol A110 — and the same week, drove its replacement up the Goodwood hill. The A110 “Future,” a development mule for the electric successor arriving late 2026, is being called the world's first true EV sports car. The claim isn't about power. It's about weight: Alpine is targeting 1,400–1,500 kg for a battery-powered sports car, in a class where electric rivals routinely carry several hundred kilos more. That number is the whole story.

Here's the design intelligence in it. Alpine decided what the A110 had to feel like before it decided what would power it — a low driving position, a rear-biased 40:60 balance, agility you sense in your wrists rather than read on a spec sheet. To protect those non-negotiables, they rejected the cheap, universal “skateboard” battery platform every other EV uses, because a skateboard raises the hip-point and flattens the balance. Instead they engineered a bespoke split battery — some in the nose, some at the tail — purely to keep the car sitting and rotating the way an A110 must. The engineering serves the feeling, not the reverse.

That is a concept-phase decision made visible. The A110's identity was never “a mid-engine petrol coupe.” It was a set of felt intentions, decided long before any powertrain — and therefore powertrain-independent. The hard part was never the motors. It was naming what must never change, then having the conviction to refuse the default that would have quietly erased it.

At Depix, that's the discipline we build for: deciding the stance, the proportion, the CMF, the felt identity while it's still intent — before the platform and the tooling lock in a driving position or a kerb weight you can't undo. Decide the soul first. Let the technology come and serve it.

Sources:

https://www.goodwood.com/grr/event-coverage/festival-of-speed/new-cars-to-see-at-the-2026-festival-of-speed/

https://insideevs.com/news/800823/alpine-a110-future-mule-goodwood/

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/final-alpine-a110-produced-firm-gears-electric-successor