Peugeot has announced that its premium brand, DS Automobiles, will accelerate the development of electrified cars. Starting with the new DS 7 Crossback, it plans to release a new hybrid or electric model every year.

“DS is entering the electrified vehicles scene,” said DS Product and Development Director Eric Apode. “By 2025, more than a third of DS vehicles sold will be hybrid or all-electric. The performance models will be provided by the hybrid versions, and the first in the series is the DS 7 Crossback E-Tense – the DS vision of hybrid power with 300 hp and a 60 km electric range.”

DS is competing in the Formula E electric racing series, a valuable test bed for technologies that the company is evaluating for future production models.

“A competition series involving all-electric race cars obviously makes an ideal testing environment for our forthcoming technologies,” said DS Performance Director Xavier Mestelan Pinon. “With each successive race or test session, we’re accelerating this development to achieve a better understanding of how to optimize the electric drivetrain and the management of energy in particular with cooling in mind.”

The DS Performance engineering team will work to make technologies developed on the track accessible for the development of production vehicles. For example, today’s production EVs use a voltage of around 400 V, whereas Formula E race cars use 700 V.

“Once we have answered all the questions regarding 700 V operation, we can go ahead and raise the voltage used on production models, to bring even greater efficiency and potentially longer driving ranges,” said Eric Apode.

Source: DS Automobiles via Green Car Congress