- AERO SPORT LOUNGE (proper name): creation of DS Automobiles, which inaugurates a new vehicle silhouette, intended to enhance aerodynamic efficiency as a vector of avant-garde and desirability.
- DS AERO SPORT LOUNGE pushes the limits of the luxury car into a world that’s high-tech and sophisticated, where the instrument display is discarded to make room for high quality materials.
- Straw marquetry, satin cotton and illuminated three-dimensional weaving, all new expertise that is part of our Future Craft philosophy and makes its first appearance in the cockpit.
A breath of innovation
A high seating position, great visibility and First-Class comfort to which you can add aerodynamic and technical efficiency and an extraordinary design… The character of DS AERO SPORT LOUNGE is unique. It answers a very contemporary problem: how the latest in efficiency can exist without giving up character and strong design.
New legislation decrees a redefinition of the shape and environmental impact of every vehicle.
DS AERO SPORT LOUNGE is a unique answer to a variety of challenges.
With DS AERO SPORT LOUNGE, DS Automobiles is bringing a new shape of car to life. Welcoming as well as distinguished, restrained as well as generous, intelligent as well as poetic, this concept car previews our future. Through its proportions and body shape, DS AERO SPORT LOUNGE directs the airflow to optimise aerodynamic efficiency. Its length (5.00 metres) and its steeply raked roof line reduce drag and the air is directed from the front grille to the side aero details by passing through large 23 inch wheels their design shape being influenced by the air.
The outline is characterised by the signature E-TENSE lighting, symbolic of the 500Kw (680hp) electric motor linked to a 110kWh new generation battery located in the floor for a range greater than 400-miles (650km). This technology, a legacy of the titles won in Formula E, gives breath-taking acceleration from 0 to 62mph (100kph) in just 2.8 seconds.
The grille becomes a screen around the badge and illuminated DS AUTOMOBILES lettering. There are hidden eyes behind the composite material’s window: sensors read the road and feed computers with terabytes of information. On either side, DS MATRIX LED VISION projector headlights are joined by daytime running lights and DS LIGHT VEIL, illuminated sheets that preview the future DS signature.
Advanced technology: performance inherited from Formula E
The first premium brand to take part in Formula E, DS Automobiles was named champion with Jean-Éric Vergne (Drivers) and DS TECHEETAH (Teams). Taking part in Formula E is key to accelerating research and development into the electric vehicles that are revolutionising the car industry. In four seasons, the race wins and titles achieved, against the strongest competition ever seen in an FIA-certified championship, have enabled the Brand to enrich its expertise in electrification. DS AERO SPORT LOUNGE draws from this knowledge.
Travel becomes art
The automotive revolution is also underway in cockpits. Using its history and reference points, DS Automobiles has reinvented the interior to create a machine to travel in. Screens, which play a prominent part in most concept and production cars, are no longer at the forefront.
In front of the occupants, two wide strips create a suspended shape. The lower strip, clad in satin cotton, displays information projected from the top strip. The surface is brought to life with the necessary elements of navigation or finding and sharing new types of infotainment. The fusion of information and entertainment comes into its own by doing away with the constraints of touchpads.
On either side, the screens provide digital mirrors and the group of controls needed for configuration and comfort. As in a first-class setting, each occupant has their own screen. The elements necessary for driving are projected onto the windscreen with augmented reality.
Between the seats, the central armrest acts as a guide. It reads, interprets and answers every hand gesture. As a result of a technical partnership with Ultraleap, a start-up based in Silicon Valley, DS AERO SPORT LOUNGE previews future interactions in cockpits. By combining Leap Motion and Ultrahaptics, the hand makes a gesture and receives a sensory answer. Sensors detect each movement and tiny speakers pulse a wave which feels like something solid.
Continuously simplified for greater peace of mind, methods of interacting with the environment are a difficult balance, from a world that’s totally online to a desire to disconnect. DS AERO SPORT LOUNGE distorts time. The ratio of time varies depending on whether you want to concentrate on driving, having fun or endlessly travelling.
IRIS, DS AERO SPORT LOUNGE’s artificial intelligence, is situated at the centre of the dashboard to control everything with simple conversation.
Advanced technology: ultrasound
In a world that is increasingly removing the barrier separating real and virtual, it’s become possible to control programs with no contact but still keeping the sensation of touch. Developed with the cooperation of a Silicon Valley laboratory, the infotainment system’s haptic control technology is unique. With the development of intelligent, three-dimensional ultrasound, you feel like you’re touching shapes and textures in a completely empty space. This augmented gesture control creates strong natural tactile feedback which enables interaction that’s as simple as magic.
The combination of French luxury savoir-faire and new quality materials gives rise to Future Craft
The strip of the dashboard and the back of the seats are clad with straw marquetry. This engineered material represents a perfect combination between luxury craftsmanship and the desire to work towards sustainability. Straw, a common and economical material, becomes a symbol of quality through the unique expertise of a Parisian craftsman.
The large seats are adorned with satin cotton around high-density mousse technology that brings comfort to the fore. The surface is extremely smooth due to a very fine weave which gives it incomparable strength and softness.
In the doors, a fabric technique of plaited three-material microfibre has multiple transparent strands within it, bringing ambient light into the cockpit. The unique plaiting, the sign of an incredible craftsman, combines art and technology.
Craft: straw marquetry
That most humble material, straw, has become a luxury component. Drawn from 17th Century techniques, this tradition takes a prominent place in decorative art courtesy of the Lison de Caunes atelier. Made bespoke for the cockpit of DS AERO SPORT LOUNGE, rye straw sparkles through its silky touch and shimmering reflections. The raw material is plentiful and natural. Grown and harvested the old-fashioned way in Burgundy, it is then dried and coloured before being split, stem by stem, according to an ancient technique in order to be glued on its flat side and flattened at the fold on its support. The natural silica varnish on the straw makes it heat resistant and waterproof.
“DS AERO SPORT LOUNGE is a manifesto intended to illustrate the buzzword ‘sustainable’. It is a clear willingness to offer luxury while still thinking about our environmental footprint: the quality of sustainability. DS AERO SPORT LOUNGE illustrates the opening of a new era for the car. An amazing pathway is opening for us to transform new limitations into opportunities to make cars that are more and more charismatic. For this concept car, which is a prelude to our next creations, we have opted for solutions that are avant-garde and high technology in which the purely technical element is concealed for the benefit of the beauty. In the cockpit, we have chosen to work with unexpected materials, hand crafted with simple, pure lines, expressing a new kind of tranquillity.”
Thierry Metroz, Design director DS Automobiles
“DS Automobiles is in the position of challenger. The Brand enjoys a unique history and expertise to shake up the rules of the car industry. If we present a concept bearing a new bodywork shape and with an interior in materials as original as they are luxurious with a firm commitment, it’s because our projects in the field are already very advanced. Our growth shows that our customers are looking for this expertise and technology. It’s the reason DS Automobiles exists. Make a date over the coming months.”
Béatrice Foucher, CEO DS Automobiles
ABOUT DS AUTOMOBILES
Driven by the avant-garde spirit and backed by the exceptional heritage of the 1955 DS, DS Automobiles, launched new brand DS in 2015 to embody French luxury savoir-faire in the automotive industry.
DS Automobiles is Groupe PSA’s Premium brand.
Designed for customers seeking personal expression and eager for the latest technologies, the second-generation DS models combine refinement and advanced technology. With DS 7 CROSSBACK and DS 3 CROSSBACK Premium SUVs, the DS brand plans for a range of six worldwide vehicles, all offered with electrified versions under the E-TENSE signature.
These models include DS 3 CROSSBACK E-TENSE, a BEV – Battery Electric Vehicle is 100% electric and DS 7 CROSSBACK E-TENSE 4×4, a PHEV – Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle with 300 horsepower and 4-wheel drive with CO2 from 33g/km, benefit from DS savoir-faire acquired with the Formula E Driver and Teams Championship titles in 2018/2019.
For its demanding customers, DS Automobiles has created ‘ONLY YOU, the DS experience’, with its exclusive service program for a unique brand experience.
Present in 38 countries, the DS brand has created and is developing an exclusive distribution network that includes DS STORES and DS SALONS throughout the world.
Follow all DS news on www.DSautomobiles.com @DS_Official