Alpine A290 vs BMW i3

The BMW i3 costs £1,185 more than the Alpine A290. On the headline specs that premium buys little measurable advantage - the two are closely matched on range, charging and space. The Alpine A290 is not just cheaper - it also offers 42 miles more WLTP range, 50 kW faster peak rapid charging and 66 litres more boot space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Alpine A290 comes out ahead overall.

The Alpine A290 is £1,185 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £168 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Alpine A290 comes out roughly £1,105 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 155 miles for the Alpine A290 and 129 miles for the BMW i3 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Alpine A290 goes roughly 25 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 30 minutes in the Alpine A290 and 42 in the BMW i3, so the Alpine A290 loses less time at each stop. That makes the Alpine A290 the stronger long-distance car.

The BMW i3 is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 48 mm narrower than the Alpine A290. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 625 mm of total clearance for the BMW i3 and about 577 mm of total clearance for the Alpine A290.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the Alpine A290 and 88% for the BMW i3. That gives the BMW i3 a modest edge in retained real-world range. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation.