Some 15 years ago, I found myself strapped into a one-off Citroen concept car. Called the Survolt, it was a wild carbon-fibre confection that wrapped a space-age race car body, complete with wings, barge boards and aero-flicks, around a then-novel electric powertrain. Designed for the possibility of a one-make racing series, the thing I remember most about the Survolt is the noise.
Hang on, aren't electric cars silent?
They usually are, but the Survolt wasn't. Its electric motor, mounted just behind the small of your back, whined and howled like some sort of demented jet engine as the car accelerated around a small racetrack, somewhere in France. Back then, when people - whose only exposure to electric cars was the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi i-MiEV - would say that electric cars were going to be boring, my response was: just you wait...
So, what happened?
The waiting paid off. Four years after I drove the Survolt (briefly and jerkily, a combination of my own ham-fisted driving and a battery which didn't quite want to play ball) Citroen launched its luxury car brand - DS Automobiles. Almost immediately, DS signed up as a competitor to the newly launched Formula E, a series for single-seat racing cars, powered only by batteries. Assuming that racing, as it has always done for combustion cars, would improve the electric breed, DS went all-in on Formula E.
And how did that work out?
Incredibly well. DS boasts, rightly, that it was the first premium car brand to enter Formula E - Jaguar and Porsche are Johnny-Come-Latelys by comparison - and the titles soon started to roll in. Up to the end of 2024, DS had entered 126 Formula E races, won 17 of them, set 25 pole positions and taken four championships - two driver's titles, and two manufacturer's titles. Drivers such as Jean-Eric Vergne, Pascal Wehrlein, Antonio Felix Da Costa and Stoffel Vandoorne have raced for DS, and the team is now firmly written into the fabric of the sport.
So, job done then?
Not quite. DS has already had electric cars on sale - the compact DS3 Crossback E-Tense for example - but now, we're truly entering the age of the electric car, and the French luxury brand is about to launch its crucial new No.8. The No.8, quite apart from the Chanel-referencing name, is a hugely important car for DS, as it will take on the likes of BMW, Audi and Mercedes in the all-important premium electric SUV market.
DS being DS, it's doing things a little differently, creating a style for the No.8 that's closer to that of a Rolls-Royce Spectre than it is a humbler family SUV. It's also going to launch with arguably the most important thing for a new electric car - a colossal range, as the 98kWh version is officially capable of putting 750km between charges.
And the Formula E team comes in... how?
Technology transfer. It's why car makers go racing. Sure, there are marketing opportunities and all, but the real reason is and always has been to make the bits that go on your road car work better. The cauldron of racing is the perfect experimental laboratory - if it works well on the racetrack, it'll work well on the road too.
For DS, one of the key tech transfers from Formula E has been regenerative braking.
Tell me more...
Regenerative braking - using an electric car's motor to slow it down when you lift off the accelerator, returning useful electrical charge to the battery; basically free energy that in a combustion car is lost as heat - is a key element in Formula E and for DS it is just one of the valuable lessons learned from the all-electric series.
In the DS No.8 this system is activated as soon as the driver comes off the accelerator, with three levels that can be controlled via paddles on the steering wheel. Complementing the different regeneration levels is the one-pedal driving function on the No.8, which allows smooth driving at low speeds especially, without having to touch the brake pedal.
If a regenerative braking system can help a Formula E car lap faster by braking harder and adding extra juice to the battery for the next burst of acceleration, then it can do the same for you driving to work in your DS No.8, only y'know, a little less manically.
There's more. Intelligent management of the DS No.8's optional four-wheel-drive system is another characteristic inspired by Formula E. Just like the DS E-Tense FE 25 (this year's Formula E racer) at every race start, the No.8 AWD Long Range uses its four driven wheels from rest (as well as 'kick-down' in Eco, Normal and Sport modes) for optimal traction under acceleration.
Xavier Peugeot is the Chief Executive Officer of DS Automobiles and he's in absolutely no doubt what Formula E has contributed to the brand, and to the new No.8: “Through its continued engagement in Formula E over the last decade, our brand benefits from the technical know-how gained in competition to develop our electrified road-going models. The presence of DS Automobiles in Formula E is both the expression of our hunger for victory and the consolidation of our technological leadership. Our latest standard-bearer, DS No.8, is the perfect embodiment of that vision. With an exceptional range of 750 kilometres in the mixed cycle, it pushes the limits of electric mobility by pioneering long-distance journeys without the need to recharge. This technological leap bears witness to the major advancements made by our brand.”
Eugenio Franzetti, DS Performance director, agrees: “The mission behind DS Performance is vital for more than one reason. Beyond the sporting goals we have set ourselves, we compete on Formula E's circuits to support the brand when it comes to the development and refinement of its road cars. Thanks to our ten years of motorsport experience, DS No.8 benefits from several important lessons in terms of electric technology. While we are delighted to fly the flag for DS on race podiums all over the world, we are equally proud to play a part in the creation of cars that revolutionise electric mobility.”