DS N°8 Promises 750 Kilometers: When Marketing Calls It Art, Physics Calls It Compromise
With a campaign tagline declaring that “the French always go too far,” DS Automobiles has launched its new flagship N°8 on the back of one headline figure: 750 kilometers of range on the WLTP cycle. Bold, poetic, and quintessentially French, the claim is meant to seduce—but as ever, the numbers are more pliable than absolute.
At the heart of the N°8 lies a 97.2 kWh battery, a finely sculpted aerodynamic body, and an all-wheel-drive system with up to 350 horsepower. In WLTP testing, the promise of 750 kilometers holds, yet the fine print tells a subtler story: expect closer to 500 kilometers on the motorway, while city driving under ideal conditions might stretch autonomy to 900. In other words, range is more dependent than ever on style, speed, and circumstance.
The launch campaign mirrors the ambition of the spec sheet. Directed by Henry Scholfield and soundtracked by a member of French electronic duo The Blaze, the commercial frames the car as both technological and cultural artifact. The imagery is unabashedly lyrical, showing the N°8 gliding from Paris to the Mediterranean coast on a single charge, weaving in references to French elegance and the lingering afterglow of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Yet behind the artistry lies a harder market reality. German and Chinese rivals already offer comparable ranges, often with more transparent technical roadmaps. DS, as the luxury arm of Peugeot’s parent group, instead leans into narrative, selling not just an EV but “the art of travel.”
Pricing follows the familiar “from €375 per month” lease-friendly refrain, but the true positioning is less about spreadsheets and more about storytelling. The N°8 is designed not to win over buyers with kilowatt-hours and range calculators, but with living-room allure, emotion, and the promise that in this French exaggeration lies a certain kind of truth.
