Only one brand on the entire European scene is prepared to comply with the new pollutant emission limits that will come into force on January 1, 2021: DS, the premium firm of the PSA group (Peugeot-Citroën, Opel ). How has the young French manufacturer managed to achieve this milestone?
To this day, DS sells only two models: the DS 3 Crossback and DS 7 Crossback. The first of these is a B-SUV available with a 100% electric version, while the second is a D-SUV with two plug-in hybrid variants (one with front-wheel drive and one with all-wheel drive). Both the electric DS 3 Crossback and the plug-in hybrid DS 7 Crossback are given the E-TENSE surname.
On the other hand, we cannot lose sight that the company’s new flagship, the executive saloon DS 9, will feature neither more nor less than three E-TENSE plug-in hybrid versions. Furthermore, it is expected that the brand’s next release, the compact DS 4, will also be available with various such configurations.
With its popular hybrid range, not even Toyota will be able to avoid the hefty fines stipulated by the European Union for those manufacturers who exceed the new environmental regulations, which include an emissions limit of 95 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer. However, thanks to DS, it is possible that the PSA group can avoid these sanctions.
Currently, the average emissions of the DS range are below 80 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer. Something that is possible thanks to the profusion of electrified versions among the ranks of the French firm, which plans that all its models’ new ones have either plug-in hybrid versions, either 100% electric versions, or both.
This strategy is similar to that of the rest of PSA’s brands, which are being electrified at breakneck speed: Peugeot has two electric vehicles (e-208 and e-2008) and two plug-in hybrids (3008 and 508), Opel with two electric (Corsa-e and Mokka-e) and a plug-in hybrid (Grandland X), Citroën with two electric (Ami and ë-C4) and a plug-in hybrid (C5 Aircross), etc. And all this without counting on its wide range of 100% electric vans.