I spent a week with this quirky French electric car to see if it’s better than a BMW

I should declare some personal bias at the outset – I love big, luxurious French cars. I own an old Peugeot 605, and think some of Citroen’s back catalogue – particularly the DS and SM – rank among the most beautiful and interesting cars of all time.

So I was excited to spend a week with the new DS No.8 to see if it could capture any of the spirit of its predecessors and become my new ‘le barge’ of choice.

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Most big French cars sell poorly on these shores simply because, in the UK, we leave this end of the market to Germany – BMW, Audi and Mercedes. When we buy French, we go for a Renault Clio or a Peugeot 208, something chic and bijou – like a Parisian apartment, rather than a sprawling chateau in the Dordogne.

That’s exemplified by the No.8’s predecessor, the DS 9 – which, over four years on sale, shifted just 139 units. BMW sells over 15,000 3 Series models per year.

But the DS No.8 makes quite a good first impression, better than the staid DS 9 did. The body is a mixture of saloon and SUV, with a sloping roofline, jacked-up stance and clad wheelarches. At the front, there’s a bold (and illuminated) grille, while top models get the option of a natty two-tone colour scheme as well.

That impression continues inside, where the No.8’s swooping dashboard, backlit starburst pattern on the centre console and metallic trim make the BMW or Mercedes equivalents feel as exciting as a dentist’s waiting room.

And the figures seem to add up as well. The cheapest DS No.8 can cover up to 328 miles on a charge, but the top-spec model claims up to 445 miles. That’s more than you get from any version of the BMW i5, Mercedes EQE or Audi A6 Sportback e-tron.

So what’s the problem? Well, the first is with those comparisons. You might think it’s mad comparing a DS to cars like those, but the fact is they’re really not too far apart on price. The DS No.8 range starts from just over £50,000, but you can push that over £60,000 really easily. And on monthly leasing and finance – figures which matter more than the cash price – it’s pretty much square.

That means the DS No.8 has a much harder job to be competitive than it would if it was priced equivalent to a Tesla Model 3 or Mercedes CLA, because people who buy the alternatives have high expectations – and the DS just can’t meet them.

You’d expect, for example, a properly luxurious interior. But while the No.8 has some really nice materials and super-comfy seats, there are several areas where the plastic trim feels really cheap and nasty. Worse is the headlining, which seems to be made from a 1980s twinset – every time you open the sunvisor you’re reminded how rough and low-rent it feels.

You’d probably also expect the car to excel in the way it drives – either to be sporty and engaging, like the BMW i5, or soft and luxurious like the Mercedes EQE. Whichever way it goes, the car should be an exemplary motorway cruiser.

Unfortunately the DS just doesn’t tick any of these boxes convincingly. Its suspension isn’t very comfy, failing to iron out bumps and potholes like the legendary DS models of old – but it’s not fun to drive either, because the controls are too light and because most models are front-wheel drive only.

So while the DS No.8 looks posh on the outside, the actual ownership experience – from sitting in it to driving it – just doesn’t match up to the promise. DS is a relatively minor brand in the UK, and if it wanted to compete with the Germans, it should have gone one of two ways – either offer a far lower price, or step up the luxury and give buyers more bang for their buck.

What should you buy instead? Well, personally I wouldn’t get the BMW i5 or the Mercedes EQE as I don’t really like them – instead, I’d hang on for their smaller siblings being launched soon, the BMW i3 and the Mercedes C-Class Electric, both of which have even more range and seriously up-to-date underpinnings.

And if you need a car now, I’d step outside of the German bubble and buy a Polestar 4. It shares the DS’ jacked-up saloon styling, but has a cool, minimalist interior, a great range, wonderful build quality and is great to drive too.

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