DS Shows Us What The Future Looks Like – DS X E-Tense
With Citroen separating its DS brand from its Citroen underpinnings, they’re eager for the brand to make a mark. And that it certainly did with the DS X E-Tense. The name doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but they’re embracing their technology-chasing history of the original DS by providing a look at the 2035 automobile through Citroen-shaped glasses.
This of course means that DS were let off their leash to create something spectacular in regards to both technology and aesthetics. Let’s start with the tech.
While a steering wheel is present, it boasts full autonomy. But Citroen maintain the claim that this will be a remedy to the autonomous cars that will more than likely flood the roads in the future. Obviously, it’s powered by electrons with a motor at each front wheel to produce 1341bhp in circuit mode, and when you’re on the road, 536hp – still plenty of power to get you to, what you’d tell the policeman, 70mph. If you’re wondering how you might control that level of power, the E-Tense has an advanced active system which adapts to road and weather conditions.
What is strange is the positioning of the driver’s seats in comparison to the passenger’s. The driver sits slightly further forward than the passenger. Why? I’m not sure. But if you forget that bit, what’s left of the car looks divine. Straight from 2035 even, believe it or not. From the flared wheel arches to the Batmobile-like wings that stretch from the rear, it looks like it’s posed to lunge forward and take your head off.
Talking of taking heads off, it possesses gullwing doors which open up to an interior of leathers, woods, and metals. And just like a fishing boat for tourists, there’s an electrochromic glass floor which reveals a view of the road below. Again, not sure the reason for this, but I like it a lot.
While this level of technology may never reach DS cars, at least not anytime soon, it’s an interesting insight to see what the limitations are, and what the minds behind the brand would do without a cage.
