DS Automobiles is the luxury sub-brand of French automaker Citroën, and the brand has since announced that it will manufacture only all-electric and hybrid vehicles by 2025. Currently, the DS 3 Crossback E-Tense is the only EV in its stable, but it looks like DS is intent on conquering the hyper-EV race with its all-new, unique concept: the E-Tense Performance.
DS Automobiles
And yes, we’re talking about a hyper-electric sports car with the powertrain of a Formula E race car. The E-Tense looks nothing like the 2014 Citroën Devine DS concept, but it inherited design cues similar to the E-Tense concept unveiled at the 2016 Geneva Auto Show.
DS Automobiles
“Our goal is to apply the experience gained in Formula E and the expertise we have gained from our international titles to a project that predicts the performance electric car of tomorrow,” said Thomas Chevaucher, director of DS Performance.
DS Automobiles
Tucked beneath that sinuous sheetmetal is a carbon-aluminum monocoque frame and all-electric drivetrain taken from the brand’s Formula E single-seater race car. We’re talking a 250 kW electric motor up front and a 350 kW unit in the rear, collectively developing 600 kW or 804 horsepower. When we say it’s a race car for the road, we mean it.
DS Automobiles
These high-strung motors get their juice from an innovative new battery with “innovative chemistry” and an “immersive cooling system” thanks to a “tailor-made Quartz EV fluid solution”. DS Automobiles says the battery, developed in cooperation with TotalEnergies and Saft, enables acceleration and regeneration of up to 600kW, allowing the car to accelerate like crazy and recover power more efficiently.
With the battery mounted in the rear mid position to improve weight distribution, the E-Tense Performance can accelerate like its pants are on fire. DS claims zero to 60 mph in two seconds, which is appallingly fast by modern standards.
It also looks great with its eye-catching silhouette and ultra-slim 3D-effect daytime running lights made up of no less than 800 LEDs. You might mistake it for an Audi R8 with a shorter tail, but it also has elements of the Bugatti Chiron from certain angles. Oh, and the body panels wear a “beetle effect interference color paint” that changes hue depending on where you look. Pleasant.
DS Automobiles
DS Automobiles had no interior images, but it did say the concept had bucket seats, a Formula E steering wheel, black leather trim and a Focal Utopia sound system with a pair of Scala Utopia Evo speakers. The E-Tense performance is only a concept at this stage, but the prototype will begin initial testing in February 2022.
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