DS To Launch New Electrified Models Every Year

DS Automobiles wants to make a bold statement: the brand is "accelerating the development of electrified cars." The French company promises to launch a new model every year with an electrified, all-electric or hybrid, version for all of them. The start of the ambitious project was given with the introduction of the DS 7 Crossback, which has a 300-horsepower (223-kilowatt) gas-electric hybrid version.

The DS 7 Crossback E-Tense features a gas engine with 200 hp (149 kW) paired to a new and efficient automatic gearbox with eight speeds. It is located transversely between the ICE and the electric motor. A 13 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery is installed under the second row of seats.

"DS is entering the electrified vehicles scene," confirmed Eric Apode, DS Product and Development director. "By 2025, more than a third of DS vehicles sold will be hybrid or all-electric. The performance models will be provided by the hybrid versions and the first in the series is DS 7 Crossback E-Tense - the DS vision of hybrid power with 300 hp and a 60-km electric range."

DS Automobiles is part of the Formula E series which, according to the marque, gives the engineers "a valuable test-bed for gaining experience and accelerated development." The manufacturer sees many connections between the race cars and the road-legal hybrid or electric vehicles, like the techniques used for controlling the energy supplied by the battery and the management strategies of its deployment.

PSA, the French conglomerate owner of DS, has even more ambitious plans for its premium marque. It will become the first brand of the family to receive autonomous technologies, starting, again, with the DS 7 Crossback. It will soon get some semi-autonomous systems, such as self-parking and a system monitoring the vehicle's position on the road. By the end of the decade, the automaker wants to introduce Level 3 of self-driving technologies.