The
avant-garde French automaker is preparing to take the veil of the new DS X
E-Tense concept. Its vision for the year 2035 doesn’t just present the
possibility of driving or being driven. It splits the choice down the middle.
As in, literally, split down the middle of the vehicle.
On one side is an open cockpit in the style of the
most extreme open-cockpit racing speedsters. On the other, a two-seat cocoon in
which the driver becomes passenger, with the vehicle’s autonomous systems
taking over.
The concept is powered by
a pair of electric motors. Located in the front wheels, they
combine to produce 540 horsepower in road trim. Take it to the track,
though, and it can unleash 1,360 hp. A carbon-fiber chassis keeps it
light, and a suspension developed by the company’s Formula E racing team keeps
the handling taut.
Pie-in-the-sky as can be, it’s an intriguing idea.
But we have our questions about visibility for the driver in the open cockpit,
whose entire right side is blinded by the enclosed cabin alongside – even if it
is made of glass. That’s alright, though, because the DS X E-Tense concept
stands about as much chance of actually hitting the road as the Titanic
spontaneously raising itself from the deep and continuing on its ill-fated
journey.
