Alpine hydrogen supercar teased ahead of March 18 reveal
Despite the great EV rush across the auto industry, some are still exploring designs that use alternative fuels like hydrogen. Alpine, in a project with the Istituto Europeo di Design, one of the top transportation design schools in the world, has created a hydrogen-powered supercar that will be revealed on March 18. For now, it’s being teased.
Alpine has revealed precious little about the car so far. Called the Alpine A4810, it was designed in collaboration with 28 IED students as part of their Master in Transportation Design program’s thesis project. As such, the emphasis is going to be on design, with a low, rounded prow carrying on Alpine tradition. The brand’s signature quad headlamps take on a hexagonal shape rather than the typical round units, and a new LED lighting signature spans the width of the front.
Beyond that, we can see bulging wheel arches front and rear, a fighter jet canopy-style greenhouse and taillights that appear to extend from the rear bodywork. Oh, and the Alpine logo on the nose glows, too.
The stated goal of the project was to develop something as extreme as a supercar but with sustainability in mind. Interestingly, rather than a battery-electric setup, the IED’s description specifically calls out a hydrogen powertrain. It doesn’t, however, specify if that’s a fuel cell or a combustion engine that uses hydrogen fuel. The latter, as an example, would be something like Toyota’s Corolla-based hydrogen race car.
In the grand scheme of things it probably won’t matter too much, as this is primarily a design study. Alpine has also made moves to develop an all-electric sports car. It has about as much chance of making it into production as the Suzuki Misano Concept that IED previously designed. Still, it may serve as a visual guidepost for the company’s future vehicles. The Alpine A4810 will be revealed online on Thursday, March 18.
