Renault’s performance brand Alpine has unveiled a stunning concept car for the 2022 Paris Motor Show, which kicks off on Monday, October 17. We won’t have to wait until then as the online debut is set for this Thursday. Ahead of its launch, a shadowy teaser image has been released of what the French brand describes as a “ground-breaking concept car” called the Alpenglo.
If the name doesn’t ring a bell, it points to an optical phenomenon. per Wikipedia, alpenglow “appears as a horizontal reddish glow near the horizon opposite the Sun when the solar disk is just below the horizon.” Alpine describes it as a “light phenomenon in which a horizontal streak of red light appears over the mountains before sunrise and after sunset.”
The interesting moniker was chosen to reflect where the brand is right now as Alpine prepares for the sunset of the combustion engine and the rise of electric vehicles. The Alpenglow will not only signal the inevitable transition from ICEs to EVs, but also provide a window into the future of design as models following the A110 will adopt a new styling approach.
Alpine is referring not only to road-going models, but also to race cars. In fact, the Alpenglo appears to be a track-only concept judging by its dramatically aerodynamic body. The low-slung electric performance model has an extremely wide body and what could be a canopy or wrap-around doors. That full-width LED strip is clearly a reference to the show car’s name and what appears to be a wide wing or spoiler at the back.
The Dieppe-based niche marque will go purely electric from mid-decade and has already teased three new models. Expect a hot hatch version of the Renault 5’s electric revival to include a GT-X crossover and a new sports car on a dedicated modular platform in collaboration with Lotus.
Meanwhile, the mid-engined A110 rear-wheel drive coupe soldiers on with its turbocharged 1.8-litre petrol unit adapted from the soon-to-be-discontinued Renault Megane RS.