Leave a mark on the future. This is one of the historical preoccupations of man in any area. And in the auto industry, those closest to shaping their vision for posterity are the designers and engineers of the “concept cars.”
The industry’s industrial development cycles last approximately five years from the time a vehicle is conceptualized until it reaches the assembly lines.
As it happens on fashion catwalks, sometimes the designs are destined to be nothing more than that: style exercises that indicate the direction of the brand in the future. However, others eventually become tangible elements present in production models.
Car designers are not known for restraint and their designs become exaggerations that would never be possible to build or drive. An example of this are the 30-inch wheels that often mark his sketches.
The engineers’ job is to bring them to reality and moderate the cartoonists’ lines, and bring them – through conflict – to the useful world, especially if the “concept” is a powerful model destined to are controlled.
In this case, when hundreds of sketches have already been distilled and its elements have become a usable vehicle, there are three pillars that make up it: the software, the design and the mechanical components.
This is how it looks
Thomas Chevaucherthe director of DS Performance, who is leading the brand’s efforts in the Formula E electric championship after leading Citroën’s rally division when
sebastien loeb He became the most successful driver in WRC history.
“Interestingly, what gets most transferred to road cars is least seen,” he says, referring to the lines of code that control the switchboard.
In the case of the ‘concept’ that ABC has been allowed to test exclusivelythe DS E-Tense, the programming is a direct legacy of the zero-emission cars competing on the track.
The E-Tense is essentially Formula E camouflaged under a design that could become reality. For this reason, it is impossible for the components to reach a production model: their cost would make them prohibitive. “Ultimately, this car is a lab to see how racing technology can be brought to the street,” Chevaucher says. For starters, its 250 kW and 350 kW front and rear engines, which together and immediately deliver 800 hp, will not hit the market with the power we tested at France’s Le Castellet airport.
From DS, however, they believe that a premium brand needs an ambitious high-performance model: Audi has its R8; Porsche the Turbo S series; Mercedes, the AMG GT.
Beatrice Foucher, CEO of the French brand, puts it this way: “I think it’s important to show the public what we are capable of, especially to be so closely linked to a winning Formula E team, it makes sense.” However, he knows it must make economic sense, especially under the cost discipline he imposes.
Charles Tavares in his consortium, Stellantis. “Producing such a car would only be in very small volumes,” he says. The technical team is not so rational and says all that:
“His dream is to reach the market”
If “pretty much everything comes from the code” and “practically nothing” comes from the components, the design falls somewhere in between. “There are some elements that can already be seen on current DS models”, such as the taillights, present on the DS 7 and DS 4. Looking ahead, the front light signature will appear, with the aggressive headlights and solid grille and brilliant.
“One of the advantages we have as a new company”, says Foucher, “is that we don’t have to pay tribute to our past, as Alfa Romeo has to do”, one of the group’s other premium brands linked to competition. “It allows us to take more risks on design elements and see how they are received by the public,” he says. So far, it seems that everyone’s response has been mostly positive.
Normally, ‘concepts’ are static and fragile models that do not require close scrutiny. This is not the case with the E-Tense, although there was no possibility to test the vulnerability.
The test was simple: on a runway accelerate and brake as much as possible before it is over. With an acceleration from 0 to 100 in two seconds,
overcoming the first surprise they had the 240 . already exceeded The vision, a tunnel. The braking point, immediately.
The instructor radioed the signal to hit the regenerative brake, another Formula E heritage – whose regenerative technology will also find its way into future DSs – and almost as fast as we reached that speed, we lost it. . Burnt tire smoke filled the cab and we did three more laps, all equally impressive. If you have access to such special technology as you have in the FE, it would be a crime not to use it in your models.
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
