After a 2022 marked by the successive restyling of the DS 3 and DS 7 SUVs, product news from DS will be relatively quiet in 2023 as the brand prepares for its electric revolution with vehicles to be unveiled next year. The first information on what the Parisian luxury brand is preparing for us promises to be particularly interesting.
The energy transition has always been important for DS, and since its birth in 2016, it was agreed that it would very quickly become a 100% electric brand. Finally, a year earlier than predicted, DS will make the transition in 2024 with the presentation of two major innovations.
The first is the 100% electric version of the DS 4, which will support the thermal and rechargeable hybrid versions. Little information is currently circulating on this future 100% electric version of the DS 4, but it seems that it will not use the same motor-battery assembly as its Peugeot 308 and Opel Astra cousins, opting for a battery supplied by ACC, of which Stellantis is a shareholder with Total and Mercedes, which will allow it to have better autonomy and be able to offer technology worthy of the premium rank to which DS aspires.
This future electric DS 4 E-Tense will be launched during 2024, but could be announced before the end of 2023.
The real leap forward for DS is the D85 project, which will embody the brand's new top-of-the-range model, an electric, luxurious and highly innovative top-of-the-range model. In terms of style, it is certain that this future D85 will adopt the front end heralded by the DS E-Tense performance concept presented by the brand in 2022. The Daytime Running Lights (DRL) will be adopted from the future DS and will form a complex design with a base highlighting the headlights and two points pointing downwards from the shield. These DRLs will frame very thin headlamps, but above all a brand new grille for the DS, which could be a real innovation on the car market.
This future D85 will be based on the STLA Medium platform (formerly eVMP, evolution of the EMP2) and will use electric motors supplied by eMotors, the joint venture between Stellantis and Nidec whose first 156 hp engine powers the C4 and C4 X in particular. The new motors will be linked to batteries supplied by ACC, allowing an autonomy of more than 700 kilometres in the largest versions thanks to a 90 kWh battery.
Revolution on the outside, but also revolution on the inside, where this D85 should be very luxurious, but above all offer a style of which certain elements seem particularly innovative and in line with what the brand had proposed on the ASL concept presented in 2020.
In conclusion, 2024 will be a key year for DS automobiles, which will finally begin its energy transition: all new cars will be 100% electric, while the current range will continue to offer hybrid combustion engines until their renewal. For DS, this energy transition will also mean a significant evolution in its exterior and interior design, with vehicles that will mark a new stage in the young life of the brand, a decisive stage in its development.