Alpine A290 Knowledge Base

Charge efficiently §

Home charging (overnight):

• £1.50–£2.30 per charge (10–20% to 80%) on cheap overnight rates
• 7kW charger: 3–4 hours for a full charge
• Use Octopus Go (not Intelligent) for simplicity: only 1.5p/kWh more, far more reliable

Public charging:

• Cheapest: Tesla Superchargers (39p/kWh, accessible to non-Teslas via app)
• Octopus Electroverse app: Highly recommended - order the RFID card
• Mobilize charge pass: £4.99/month gives 43p/kWh at Ionity (vs c.90p otherwise)
• 300kW charger: c.40 mins to add 100 miles

Fast charging in cold weather: Cold battery charges VERY slowly initially (13kW reported at 2°C, 40% SoC). Warm battery charges much faster (38–66kW at 9°C). Pre condition by driving hard before arriving at a charger. Temperature makes a 5x difference to charging speed.

Charging to 100% - the debate §

Many charge to 100% regularly on lease/PCP. Common approach: 80% daily, 100% for long trips.

Note: No regen at 100% for the first few miles - some compromise at 90%. Many switched to a 90% limit in winter due to reduced range.

Maximise range §

Driving technique (counterintuitive!): Drive harder to warm the battery = better range than gentle driving.

Regen strategy: High in town, low on fast roads, increase for downhill. Gets 4 mi/kWh when optimised vs 3.1 when driven like ICE.

Temperature management: Pre heat car before trips (on charger power, not battery). Use heated seats and steering wheel rather than cabin heating. Winter: 2.8–3 mi/kWh vs summer: 3.4–3.7 mi/kWh.

Speed impact:

• At 60–65mph: 150–175 miles possible
• At c.74mph: 3.1 mi/kWh
• At 70mph motorway: range "depletes rapidly" vs urban

Short journey tip: First few miles are incredibly inefficient (battery not warmed). A 1-mile trip gets only 1 mi/kWh; a 26-mile trip gets 3 mi/kWh once warmed.

Use hidden features §

• Reset consumption display: Hold down button on right side of steering wheel for 3 seconds
• Steering wheel controls: Press up/down arrow to scroll through dashboard displays
• Hold drive mode button: Shortcuts to customise that mode's settings and sounds
• Parking brake tip: Hold parking brake switch up longer than a click = brakes harder (useful on steep hills)
• Key fob trick: Naff plastic key comes apart - allows small lanyard attachment for garage key
• Instrument cluster: Car icon matches your actual car colour
• AC quirk: AC turns off when you flick to Auto (known bug)

Set up the dashboard §

Turn off Google speed alerts: Go to Google navigation in main infotainment (not via CarPlay). Set 'alerts off'. Also press furthest right button by driver's door twice to disable overspeed warning + lane departure.

Brightness adjustment: Can only adjust the day setting during the day, night setting at night when active.

Telemetrics: Standard on GTS/GT Performance. Optional extra on GT.