Range anxiety is still the rallying cry of opponents of electric cars. Range is relative: How far can you drive in one go before you need a break? Not many will make it as far as our latest test car, the DS No8 Long Range (from 54,650 euros). 760 kilometers were on the display with a fully charged 97.2 kWh battery (net). That’s quite an announcement.
Tall people have to duck their heads in the rear seats. Clemens Fabry
In our test it ended up being less than 760 kilometers; we also drove on the highway and turned on the air conditioning. But we managed more than 600 kilometers with the 245 hp front-wheel drive car, which corresponded to a consumption of 15.7 kWh per 100 kilometers. Those are the dimensions of a combustion engine. The DC charging speed in our test was 110 kW, 160 kW should be possible.
Clemens Fabry
Above all, how we covered the route deserves mention. There is a fine line between simply covering a distance and the art of travel. The French call it “l’Art de Voyager”. In automotive history, it was the legendary Citroën DS from 1955 that cultivated this attitude to life with hydraulic grandeur.
DS Automobiles is trying to revive this driving experience, especially with the top model No 8. They achieve this with technology that is familiar from luxury vehicles. The so-called DS Active Scan Suspension scans the road using a camera and adjusts the dampers for potholes in a fraction of a second.
Clemens Fabry
In the interior, the designers perhaps meant a little too well with special design elements. There is Noblesse with fine nappa leather in a watch strap design and cleverly placed Alcantara elements. But overall the car looks too cluttered inside.
Visually, the No 8 breaks with the dictates of the classic SUV. The designers kept the roof flat and the rear end in an elegant fastback silhouette. Not only does it look extravagant, it also serves a higher purpose: aerodynamics. The air resistance value of just 0.24 contributes significantly to the long range.
