DS3 Crossback e-tense. Perfect for Paris.
French cars are known to be quite quirky. Some details are questionably executed or just exaggerated for no apparent reason. But it seems that there is a pattern within the cars themselves.
In this blog, we're showing you the little DS3 Crossback e-tense. A small and full electric crossover from Citroën's sister company, DS. Quirky is an understatement, this car is very weird. But in a kind and loveable manner.
Let's start with the design. It's striking and different. Unlike anything, we've ever seen. The front is the most controversial part in our opinion. There's a lot of things going on with the huge (unnecessary) grille and the shape of the headlights. It's all very busy and interesting. On the side, there's some kind of protrusion on the back window for no apparent reason. But those wheels! True concept car vibes. The back is the most striking part of the DS3 Crossback. Slim rear lights coupled with a tiny rear window make the back our personal highlight. The badges on the back are kind of distracting, but you've got to be sure that it's the DS DS3 Crossback e-tense! The fake vents aren't bothering at all, but fake vents are still fake.
The interior is kitted out in diamonds. In fact, that's the main theme of the DS3. Diamonds, diamonds, DIAMONDS. Just like with the Peugeot 3008, it all looks really cool, but the quality isn't as good as the looks. It's like a french art gallery, no touching! Too cool to be touched, just cool to look at. Funny to mention the Peugeot, because a lot of things about this interior reminded us of Peugeot. The gear lever, cruise control(s) and steering wheel controls are straight from Peugeot. The infotainment screen is also from Peugeot, which is good because it offers a lot of information about the car and there's so much to see. Good to see that Stelantis' inventory is being put to good use. In front of you, you have digital gauges and a pop-out HUD, oldschool.
Now, the name. The full name is indeed DS3 Crossback e-tense. The DS3 part means that it's the smallest DS you can buy. DS is Citroën's "luxury" brand, launching some pretty good looking cars in the past and present. The upcoming DS4 and DS9 look really promising, both using the strong powertrains from Peugeot. In fact, here we come to the e-tense part, which means, it's electric. But the DS9 e-tense is a plug-in-hybrid? Confusing. The DS3 Crossback is also available with a combustion engine, but the electric powertrain suits this little crossover. And yeah, the Crossback part means that it's a Crossover. This thing can't really be called an SUV, because it's front-wheel-drive and it has zero offroad-ability. But nowadays everything with a lifted ride-height and seating position can be called an SUV.
It's perfect environment is the city and small windy roads. The electric motor powering the front wheels produces a modest 136 horsepower and 260 nm of torque. Which is enough to make the wheels spin when you're taking off from a red light. Pulling power is good under 50km/h, after that the powerband slowly drops off. 0 - 100km/h is dealt with in 8.7 seconds. The biggest question is the range. With a usable battery capacity of 45 kWh, the DS3 should do about 250 - 300km and it can DC fastcharge at 90 kW. But realistically, you'll just drive this on your daily commute, so the range doesn't really matter. This is no car you'd want to drive for longer distances. It feels most comfortable just cruising through the city and you notice that the motorway is already quite a struggle. The optimal range will be reached in the city.
We've searched for a comparison for the DS3 Crossback e-tense, but is there even any competition? This car might be in a class of its own. The electronics are still better than a VW ID.3 and it might be combarable to the electric Peugeot 2008, but we've not tested that yet. If you want something different, quirky and french, get a DS.
Our verdict: it's been nice to test our first DS and we're looking forward to the luxurious DS9. They're going in the good direction with the DS3 Crossback e-tense though. You can say that this car was made for Paris. It‘s small, quick and most importantly, french. The DS3 Crossback e-tense got the first DLS‘ dog approval (check out the last pic). Thank‘s
