autos

Driving the DS X E-Tense concept – Autocar


It’s the driver’s side of the X E-Tense where the most interest lays – and where the the car’s racing car underpinnings really show. 

The open cockpit feels much like a single-seater racing car cockpit, from the sharply reclined seat to the small steering wheel and minimal switches. It also really focuses your attention forward and makes you feel you’re driving something far smaller than you are.

Underneath, the X E-Tense’s running gear is all based on a Formula E machine, with the motors at the front and battery at the rear, ensuring it can run much lower than an electric car with under-floor batteries. It also features stiff Formula E suspension and firm steering.

According to DS, the intention is for the X E-Tense’s two electric motors to produce 536bhp (or 1341bhp in limited-time circuit mode), but the concept didn’t seem to offer quite so much power. It still had plenty for a one-off prototype, and on open French country roads could happily reach 50mph without too much struggle.

That was fast enough for the bracingly cold French wind to really bite, and to really hear the surprisingly loud whine from the two Formula E motors. The X E-Tense certainly doesn’t play to the stereotype of autonomous electric cars as silent, sterile, emotion-free mobility devices.

At speed, with the cold wind, the comfortable, cocooned passenger compartment begins to feel very tempting. But then you reach some flowing corners and the X E-Tense’s focused driving position, stiff ride and firm steering draw you in.

It feels like you’re driving a single-seater – unsurprising, given the concept is effectively built on the platform of one – which can make it somewhat unnerving when you realise there’s a substantial passenger area to your right. I was frequently reminded of that whenever I turned right, to discover my view blocked by the passenger area’s large perspex canopy.

The sheer width of the X E-Tense, combined with the lack of wing mirrors, stiffly sprung suspension and incredibly low ride height, meant that it isn’t ideally suited to public roads. Driving through small French towns meant nervously dodging low kerbs, and traversing speed bumps required the help of a DS employee guiding me. 

Still, such issues reflect the root the concept was built on, rather than the potential of the concept itself. And while it’s hard to sit in 2019 and imagine cars like it will really be on the roads in 2035, the X E-Tense offers a refreshingly different vision for future cars: one in which driver involvement is as important as space and comfort.

Read more

DS reacts to ‘boring’ concept cars​

Audi E-tron GT concept 2018: first drive of electric sports saloon​

Fully autonomous cars could be a fantasy​



READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.