DS reveals incredible 815hp E-Tense Performance

We've had years of race teams helping road car development - now it's happening for the electric age

By Matt Bird / Monday, 7 February 2022 / Loading comments

You'd be forgiven for not knowing the outfit that has won both the teams' and drivers' titles in Formula E for the past two seasons. But it's DS Performance, since you ask, which is no mean feat given the opposition it has faced. Partly to mark that success, and partly to preview what's in store for future E-Tense models, here's a DS "devised, developed and created" by the race team.

Road cars built with even some race team influence have almost always been special, and the same applies for the E-Tense Performance. This is not just another small electric SUV. With an electric motor on each axle (250kW at the front, 350kW at the rear), the DS offers a combined 600kW, or 815hp, with four-wheel drive as well. And, um, 5,900lb ft. That's not a misprint. Which means 0-62mph in two seconds, because it's not a performance EV until it does 0-62mph in two seconds.

But there's far more to the DS than the standing start party trick that already feels a bit stale. Because DS is as likely to make an 800hp GT as you or I are to make the French rugby team. It might, however, make cars with much greater regeneration capacity; the DS concept has 600kW of regen potential, which is said to be unprecedented. "If, physically, DS E-Tense Performance keeps a braking system with discs and pads for safety, only the regeneration system is used for braking", says the press release. Given how successfully integrated regen already is to a lot of EVs, this feels like a logical next step. And might explain the design of the smart 21-inch wheels - the brake discs behind them could be quite small.

Similarly, though a carbon-tubbed super GT seems unlikely from DS, housing batteries in a carbon-aluminium composite envelope seems more likely. Designed with help from TotalEnergies and Saft, the battery itself "hides an innovative chemistry and an immersive cooling system for cells, at odds with current technology". That's a Quartz EV Fluid solution, and allows the battery to stay cool even when tasked with the amount of regen promised.

And if all still sounds far-fetched, the look of the E-Tense Performance is set to inspire upcoming DS production cars, including new 800-LED running lights and a DS 'surface' in place of the grille. Sure, cameras in place of headlights (for collecting driving data) and a "beetle effect interference colour" for the bodywork are pure concept car fantasy - at least the latter looks good - but don't be surprised if some of these visual cues make it to future DS cars. Even if dreams of a classic, two-door French GT for the electric age look likely to remain just that.

Next step for the E-Tense will be tests with the DS Performance racing drivers, Jean-Eric Vergne and Antonio Felix da Costa, after which "the real performance data" will be shared. Also, from today, the car will be offered in NFT form, which still doesn't make a whole lot of sense to us old-school folk. Apparently four different series will be offered between now and October, when the DS E-Tense Performance will be at the Paris show. The 100 NFTs - because it's 100 per cent electric - have been developed by GOATi Entertainment and will be available on the Pavillion platform. Hopefully that makes sense to some of you. For the rest of us, let's be happy that a DS product is back on the homepage for the first time since the old DS 3 hot hatch. The best French concept cars are always the bold ones, after all.