DS Automobiles has unveiled a dramatic new prototype machine called the E-Tense Performance. Featuring technology developed in Formula E, it is intended to serve as a ‘high-performance laboratory’ for future performance vehicles.
The French premium firm, which is part of Stellantis, has produced a number of bold concept cars in recent years. The new DS E-Tense Performance is actually an extensively reworked version of the E-Tense shown at the Paris motor show in 2016, albeit with substantial design and engineering upgrades.
Developed by DS Performance, which runs the firm’s title-winning efforts in the Formula E electric single-seater championship, the new version of the E-Tense Performance features a twin electric motor, all-wheel-drive set-up with a total output of 600kW (805bhp) - compared to 300kW for the 2016 version.
The front motor is a 250kW unit, with a 350kW version on the rear wheels. Combined, the two motors also offer a peak of 5900lb ft of torque. DS also claims the motors feature regeneration capacity of 600kW, and which is used for all of the car’s braking (disc brakes are fitted for safety).
The E-Tense Performance features a carbon monocoque, with a high-performance battery houses in a carbon-aluminium composite envelope. The battery, jointly developed with TotalEnergies, is located in the central rear section of the machine for optimal weight distribution. DS claims it features an innovative chemistry and an immersive cooling system.
The machine has also been used by the DS design team to explore new features, including a new front surface that replaced the grille on a traditional combustion-engined car. There are also new daytime running lights made up of 800 LEDs, with two cameras located where the headlights would traditionally sit.
The machine has an aerodynamically sculpted body, with a ‘beetle-effect interference colour’, which changes in tone depending on conditions. There are also 21in wheels.
Inside, the E-Tense Performance features bucket seats, a Formula E steering wheel and a bespoke Focal sound system.
DS Performance boss Thomas Chevaucher said the goal of the E-Tense Performance was to serve as “a laboratory that we will use to analyse the behaviour of components and to develop them with a view to future manufacturing.”
He added: “The idea is also to find solutions to lower costs, make them easier to manufacture and explore implementations in production models. The next generations of the E-TENSE range will benefit from these developments.”
DS Formula E drivers Jean-Eric Vergne and Antonio Felix Da Costa will begin to test the prototype later this month, after which full performance details will also be offered.
In a very 2020 twist, DS will also be offering the E-Tense Performance in NFT form. For those who care about blockchain-enabled digital tokens, four series of NFTs will be offered during the year.
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