DS E-Tense Performance is an old concept car with new Formula E tech – Roadshow

DS Automobiles’ latest concept car is actually an old one. In 2016, the luxury spin-off of French automaker Citroën unveiled the stunning E-Tense concept, a low-slung sports car with a 402-horsepower electric powertrain. Now six years later the brand has revealed the E-Tense Performance, an updated version of the 2016 car with updated styling and powertrain tech derived from DS’ Formula E race car.

The majority of the design changes are at the front, bringing the car in line with DS’ current design language. A rectangular grille panel features a lit-up, three-dimensional DS logo and is flanked by super thin, angular headlights that are made of 800 LEDs. The hood has a couple of additional vents and the Performance has new aerodynamic 21-inch wheels, but otherwise the rest of the E-Tense’s design is identical to the original concept. DS did paint the E-Tense Performance in an amazing pearlescent green color that was inspired by beetles, with a number of gloss black accents.

Underneath the lovely body are the real goods. The E-Tense Performance uses a carbon-fiber monocoque with a fully electric drivetrain nabbed from the Formula E car. Developed by the DS Performance arm of the brand, the E-Tense’s dual electric motors put out a total of 815 horsepower, double what the 2016 concept had and three times what the actual race car makes. While DS doesn’t give any performance figures, it says the all-wheel-drive E-Tense Performance can achieve up to 600kW of regeneration under braking.

DS also didn’t give a size for the battery pack, but the brand says it’s housed in a carbon-aluminum composite structure near the rear of the car, giving it optimal weight distribution and a mid-engine character. The pack was jointly developed by TotalEnergies and Saft, and it uses a new “immersive” cooling system for the battery cells.

Maybe most exciting is the fact that the DS E-Tense Performance isn’t a pie-in-the-sky concept, it’s an actual drivable prototype. Later this month the car will be put to the test by Formula E champions Antonio Felix da Costa and Jean-Éric Vergne both on public road and race tracks, after which true performance data will be revealed. DS also says the development of the E-Tense Performance will directly impact its future EV production cars, which could mean good things for what comes to the US from parent company Stellantis.