This is the DS No 8: a big French cruiser with a 469-mile electric range
DS has thrown the entire Book of Aero at its Polestar 4-esque EV. Here's what you need to know
Hello to the DS No 8. Not, please note, the DS 8 or DS Number 8 or DS Eight or DS #8. It is of course a nod to the brand's French aroma. Y'know, like Chanel No 5.
France was one of the first European countries to get long-distance fast motorways, and the original 1955 Citroen DS took full advantage. Don't think we're saying the DS No 8 is as revolutionary as the goddess was, but for autoroute cruising you could do a lot worse. It's all-electric, but extremely aerodynamic and available with a thumping great battery for a WLTP-certified range of 469 miles.
Which is actually 34 miles longer than a Peugeot e-3008 of the same electric spec, running on the same platform. That's the value of aerodynamics; it's relatively low to the ground for an EV.
The No 8 inserts itself in that chink between hatchback and crossover – to get an idea of its profile, think Polestar 4 or BMW iX2. Or if you haven't seen one of those yet, the Cupra Formentor or Peugeot 408. (An electric option is just coming on stream for the 408 but it's an old platform with a much smaller battery than the e-3008 or DS No 8.)
The No 8 was previewed, surprisingly accurately, by a concept car from 2020 called the Aero Sport Lounge. We didn't see it back then because it was completed in a tearing hurry for the Geneva show, loaded onto a truck, then immediately unloaded because Covid cancelled the show. But it was in the room today when DS showed us the finished No 8.
The Sport Lounge concept had the same fast profile, a similar illuminated representation of a 'grille', and also a two-tone colour scheme scheme as per what's an option on the No 8. The production car's bonnet is actually a world-first, with the area of black paint applied without any masking by a machine like a giant inkjet printer. The black sections on the rear pillar are plastic overlays; there's a single metal panel beneath.
DS design chief Thierry Metroz says there's nothing about the No 8's design, apart from the blanked-off grille, that advertises it as an EV. "For me it's the same brand, the same philosophy. We won't have one kind of design for EVs and one kind for combustion." Although the No 8 is launching as EV-only, if the takeup of battery cars slows down, they can make it as petrol or PHEV, just as with the Peugeot 3008.