The DS No. 8 marks the beginning of a new era for the French brand, in which it will adopt a renewed approach to the design, engineering and marketing of its vehicles.
This coupe SUV, in the style of the Peugeot 408 and e-3008, arrives at a crucial time for the weakened DS, which seeks to recover sales after a 25% drop in 2024, with only 35,000 units sold in Europe, and achieve key objectives of profitability before 2031, under the risk of being eliminated by its parent company, Stellantis.
While vehicles based on the STLA platform from sister brands such as Peugeot and Opel have been launched with electric and combustion options, the No. 8 will be exclusively electric, in line with DS’s plan to eliminate internal combustion engines in its next generation.
Inspired by the 2020 Aero Sport Lounge concept, though notably adapted for production, the No. 8 is the first model to adopt DS’s new naming strategy. This approach is similar to that of Chanel, which markets the No. 5 and No. 19 perfumes. This naming convention will be applied to future DS models, including the successor to the DS 3.
The DS No. 8 is based on the STLA Medium platform, which has been modified to improve its aerodynamic performance. “In the past, we designed something beautiful and then worked on how to make that design efficient, but in this car it was a different process: we started with aerodynamics,” explained its Head of Design, Thierry Métroz.
The interior of the No. 8 has avant-garde elements such as Focal speakers.
To achieve this, the DS No. 8 incorporates several aerodynamic design elements. The most notable is its sloping roofline, which is 6 cm lower than that of the Peugeot 3008. This results in a drag coefficient of 0.24, better than the 0.26 of the Polestar 4 and just behind the 0. 23 of the Tesla Model 3.
The search for efficiency is also evident in the interior. DS has equipped the seats with a neck warmer system, typically reserved for convertibles, a more efficient way to warm the body than a conventional system, and saves between 5% and 10% energy. In addition, heated seats will be standard, as they are also more efficient than heating the entire cabin.
The design of the Nº8 has been optimized to minimize air resistance and is one of the most aerodynamic.
The DS No. 8 will be available with three engine options and two batteries. The entry model has a single front engine that delivers up to 256 HP. Equipped with a 74 kWh battery, it offers a range of 571 km and accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 7.7 seconds.
The intermediate, High Range also has a single motor, but with a power of up to 276 HP, and a 97.2 kWh battery. Manufactured by Automotive Cells Company (based in France), it reaches a maximum range of 750 km. However, the additional weight increases acceleration time by a tenth.
Finally, the top of the range: it uses the same 97.2 kWh battery but adds a second motor on the rear axle, reaching a power of 370 HP. This reduces the acceleration time to 5.4 seconds, but affects the range, which drops to 685 km.
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