DS No. 8: this is the name and interior of the future fully electric model from the French brand

The addition of electric models to the lineup of DS Automobiles will keep growing, especially when it comes to fully electric ones, something we witnessed just a few days ago when the French brand unveiled, with great fanfare, its next 100% electric model: a kind of large coupé-style crossover in which aerodynamics has been developed and cared for with particular attention.

Now DS Automobiles makes two new revelations about this future model, the first of which is its name. As you know, DS tends to name its models with numbers, and it will continue to do so but with an evolution, which still shows a clear distinction between brand and model, while this evolution also points to a forward-looking electric direction for the brand.

In this way, DS reveals that its future fully electric model will be called No. 8, where “No.” refers to the abbreviation of the word “number” in French, a clear nod to the brand’s origins, while the symbol “º” is designed to look like the point of a diamond, as a sign of elegance and mastery. DS chose the number 8 for its closeness to the infinity symbol, also associated with both balance and serenity.

The second revelation DS Automobiles makes concerns its interior, which has already been revealed and where the front seats can be seen. As is customary with its models, the brand has paid special attention and care to the materials used, and as we can see, the leather and hide upholstery plays an important role, being present on the seats, door panels, dashboard, the rear part of the central tunnel, and the striking flat-bottomed four-spoke steering wheel, both at the top and bottom.

The dashboard follows a general design that is typical of electric cars and also of some combustion models: minimalist, with horizontal lines and different planes creating a stepped effect so that you won’t get bored of looking at it even two days after buying the car, for which DS Automobiles claims it was inspired by boats. Also on the dashboard, as might be expected, there is a large screen for the infotainment system and various functions, since physical buttons are rather scarce, plus another screen for the instrument cluster, separate from the first and set slightly further back. Meanwhile, the combination of ambient lighting with the double design at the front of the central tunnel and dashboard creates the effect of floating.

The design will have a multitude of inspirations and “complexities”, but to be honest it does not stir in me the slightest emotion. It strikes me as just as bland as any other conventional electric car, in which the only thing that matters is how big the little screens are and how many functions they can handle. Unfortunately, brands are increasingly forgetting the meaning of the words driver and driving, offering wheeled furniture without a trace of charm or emotion. As for criticizing the impracticality of the now-fashionable flat-bottomed steering wheels, I’ll leave that for another day.