Design Review: DS E-Tense

A year after the official launch of the brand, DS used the 2016 Geneva motor show to unveil the DS E-Tense, a high-performance electric GT supercar. As a Formula E World Championship competitor, DS wants to demonstrate its credentials as a new type of high-performance brand, with a full electric powertrain. The E-Tense also aims to show the brand’s future design vision, too.

Proportions

Click to enlarge

1 Stubby over sleek
Profile is stubby rather than super-sleek, with 20-inch wheels and black wheelarch trim filling the envelope. At 4720mm long and 1290mm high it is both longer and taller than an Audi R8. Lithium-ion batteries are situated under the car’s chassis, giving a high beltline but a low centre of gravity

2 Hard shell, soft underbelly
The bodyside is split into two themes that play off each other. The door uses very soft surfaces that are enveloped in a second skin of a slightly tenser form language, with hard edges made by the fenders and the rocker. The rear fender runs forward to end in a vertical blade behind the front wheel

3 Exposed
Trailing edge of the front fender has been eaten away, exposing the inner carbon fibre wheel-house and a pair of structural ribs that run into the door. The 2010 Citroën Survolte concept had a similar feature

4 Subtle precision
Faceted parametric design is used subtly ahead of the door and on the door mirrors. Used in small areas such as these it adds some technical precision to the surfacing without harming the flow of the design

5 Rear view
In side view the lack of a rear window is not so apparent, the exit scoops on the rear deck acting as a substitute graphic for this element. From this angle, the rear has vague overtones of Saab too

6 Cheated corners
As well as aerodynamic aids, these illuminated ‘corners’ visually shorten the overhangs and add plan shape both front and rear

7 Layered
Very effective use of layered surfacing creates the illusion of a continuous lower surface from front to rear, adding speed and the impression of air flow. Dropping upper body and rising lower all point to a vanishing point a metre or so behind the car in this imaginary wake