DS continues to strip away its next electric car. After revealing its impressive range of 750 km, we now know its name: it will be DS N°8. The opportunity to also discover its very special dashboard.
In the Stellantis galaxy, several brands are positioned as “premium”: the Italian ones from Lancia and Alfa Romeo, but also DS in France. A brand that is struggling to convince, but which hopes to reverse the trend with its next (and imminent) electric car.
DS also wants us to talk about the latter and multiplies the teasers : after announcing its range of 750 km a few days ago, it reveals its name and dashboard via a press release sent to the editorial staff.
It will be No. 8
Let's start with the name. If all DS currently follow an alphanumeric strategy (DS 3, DS 4, etc.), the brand decides to evolve somewhat with this new car, which will therefore be called DS N°8.
The addition of “N°” could obviously bring to mind the perfume of a famous French haute couture brand, and will be used on all future launches.
This announcement is accompanied by a photo of the rear part of this N°8, where we see a large trunk, with an inscription of the brand in full – the disappearance of the logo being a global trend.
An original dashboard
Another discovery from this teaser: the dashboard of the DS N°8. The brand has always offered quite original layouts, and clearly intends to continue on this path.
The whole, completely horizontal, receives a large slab in its center – which could be the one already seen on the Opel Grandland. The storm doors benefit from a large veneer appearing to hide a Focal sound system, called “Electra 3D”.
As for the steering wheel, it receives four X-shaped spokes (a tribute to pre-war cars?), while the logo in its center seems to be an evolution of the current logo. The center console houses the gear selector, what appears to be an induction charger and illuminated veneer. Finally, note the apparently sophisticated ambient lighting.
A mystery soon to be solved
If DS will not say more for today, it allows itself to slip in a small clue on the engines of its N°8, specifying in the press release that it will be “exclusively 100% electric”.
Credit: DS Automobiles
Credit: DS Automobiles
No hybrid, therefore, but the details of the engine(s) that will power this new standard-bearer remain to be known. DS had confirmed that it was working on the STLA Medium platform (inaugurated on the Peugeot E-3008), so the version with a 750 km range could use the 98 kWh battery from the Peugeot SUV, whose cells come from the ACC factory in Douvrin. .
Will other versions (such as four-wheel drive or a smaller battery) be planned? At what price? What will the final design be? Answer to all these questions “before the end of the year”.
