Kia Ev4 vs Alpine A110

What's the difference?

Kia admits that, even a handful of years ago, a car like the EV4 likely wouldn't exist in Australia. With a forecast of 70 sales a month, or 840 a year, it won't come close to the brand's biggest all-electric sellers, and senior executives and product planners alike would have been wondering if it was worth the effort.

But times have changed, and so have regulations, and Kia is happy to roll the dice on as many EVs as it can get its hands on to lower its fleet emissions in the wake of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES).

If you'll forgive the long and rambling intro, I'll now get to the point. Long live the NVES, because the EV4 is a good (if a little bizarre-looking) thing. It's quite lovely to drive, will cross vast distances in its long-range guise, and will undoubtedly make our roads a more visually interesting place.

But would you have one over the Tesla Model 3 or BYD Seal? Read on.

Dieppe. A pretty seaside community on the northern French coast. Established a mere thousand years ago, it's copped a hammering in various conflicts, yet retained its beautiful 'marine promenade', a handy reputation for top-notch scallops, and for the last 50-odd years, one of the world's most respected performance carmakers.

Alpine, the brainchild of one Jean Rédélé - racing driver, motorsport innovator, and automotive entrepreneur - is still located on the southern edge of town.

Never officially imported into Australia, the brand is virtually unknown here to all but committed enthusiasts, with Alpine having an illustrious rally and sportscar racing back-story including victory in the 1973 World Rally Championship, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1978.

Rédélé was always committed to Renault, with the French giant eventually buying his company in 1973, and continuing to produce brilliant, lightweight road and racing Alpines until 1995.

After a close to 20-year hibernation, Renault reanimated the brand in 2012 with the stunning A110-50 concept racing car, and then the two-seat, mid-engine machine you see here, the A110.

It's clearly inspired by the Alpine of the same name that wiped the rallying floor clean in the early 1970s. Question is, does this 21st century version build or bury that car's iconic reputation?