2025 (75) DS No4 157kW E-TENSE Pallas+ 61kWh 5dr Auto

This all-electric version of the DS No4 compact premium hatch takes its French brand into a new segment. Jonathan Crouch drives it.

Ten Second Review

The DS brand enters the family hatch segment of the EV market with this car, the No4 E-TENSE. There's familiar Stellantis Group full-electric engineering here, but in this case it's been packaged with quite a lot more Gallic flair.

Background

The DS brand has yet to bring us an electric car to sell in significant numbers. But it might have done so here with this model, the DS No4 E-TENSE. It's the French marque's third EV. The small quirky DS 3 E-TENSE compact crossover hasn't attracted much of a following. And the flagship DS No8 E-TENSE saloon is a rare sight on our roads. This No4 E-TENSE model could be different. In reality, it's merely re-packaged Peugeot E-408, but the re-packaging is really rather appealing. Strangely, the car the DS No4 is merely a facelift of, the DS 4 launched in 2022, didn't come in EV form. Now that the brand can offer a car in this segment, how will this one fare? Let's take a closer look.

Driving Experience

There's just a single E-TENSE powertrain option. It features a front-mounted electric motor with 213hp and 343Nm of torque. Energised by a 58.3kWh battery that's a fraction larger than the 55.4kWh unit fitted to an equivalent Peugeot E-308. Which perhaps explains why the No4 E-TENSE model's EV range figure of up to 293 miles is 14 miles more than its Peugeot counterpart. With the extra weight of this EV variant, you won't have quite the same sharp handling as an equivalent combustion version of this No4 could offer. As on the E-308, expect ride quality to be better than it is on most other compact EVs of this size (and far softer than in the equivalent equally closely-related and rather over-firm Vauxhall Astra Electric); you certainly won't be clumping over speed humps and crashing through pot holes in the way we have with some recent small EVs we've tested. And DS has kept wind noise and tyre roar at reasonable levels, so you can get the refinement benefit of that near-silent powertrain. There are three drive modes - 'Normal', 'Sport' and 'Eco'. In 'Sport', 0-62mph takes 7.1s en route to 99mph. Steering wheel paddleshifters allow access to three available brake regen settings, though even the fiercest of these doesn't deliver the abrupt off-throttle 'one-pedal' style of retardation you'll find in some EV rivals.

Design and Build

Apart from the E-TENSE badge work, there's nothing overtly designating that this is the full-electric variant in the DS No4 line-up. This is quite a good looking little compact hatch with a bold front end featuring a wide, intricately-detailed black grille. That's flanked by headlamps offering various light theatrics, their distinctive illuminating signature apparently inspired by both the larger DS No8 and the DS E-TENSE performance concept car. This sees a segmented light beam spanning the bumper that meets an illuminated DS logo in the centre. As in its combustion forms, this is a moderately good looking sharply-angled lower mid-sized would-be premium hatch, measuring 4,400mm in length and riding on wheel rims between 19 and 20-inches in size. Inside, Basalt trimming and bronze inserts try to lift the cabin above the generic volume brand norm. And in a top model fitted out with alcantara and Nappa leather, you might even feel the cabin to be quite luxurious. This fully digital cabin is made up of no fewer than three displays, There's a 10-inch instrument cluster screen. And an infotainment display of the same size in the centre of the dash for media and navigation. This is controlled by a third 5-inch screen further down the centre stack known as the 'DS Smart Touch'. If that's not enough screen tech for you, top 'Etoile' trim gets a head-up display claimed to be closer to augmented reality than any other system. The information viewed doesn't just get projected onto the windscreen; it instead gets projected further out onto your view of the road in a range 4-metres ahead and on an image 21 inches wide. Another interesting touch is the lack of visible air vents; the main ventilation unit is integrated behind a strip of physical switches that sit just below the main control screen. Out back, rear seat space is rather restricted. Boot space for the E-TENSE is rated at 390-litres, 30-litres more than the No4 PHEV but 40-litres less than the No4 hybrid.

Market and Model

As we reviewed this car in Summer 2026, DS was asking from around £37,000 for this full-electric No4 E-TENSE, but if you avoid top-spec trim, from that can be deducted an available £1,500 government Electric Car Grant, bringing the price down to around £35,500. With equivalent spec and the grant deducted, you're looking at saving around £1,200 over a No4 PHEV - but needing to find about £6,000 more than you'd need for a No4 Hybrid. The model line-up starts with a base 'Pallas' level of trim. Beyond that, the range offers two main trim levels - 'Pallas+' and top 'Etoile'. Even the base 'Pallas' No4 E-TENSE variant gets an interior completed with diamond tungsten fabric and DS black canvas seats. The dashboard and door panels have basalt black trim with a tortoiseshell effect, as well as bronze inserts. Other standard No4 equipment includes dual-zone automatic climate control, LED headlamps and full-LED rear lights, heated and folding door mirrors, along with a safety pack featuring adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking. Plus there's front and rear parking assistance with a reversing camera and acoustic laminated front side windows. Provided your No4 has 'Pallas+' spec, you'll also get the brand's DS Iris system, plus 3D connected navigation with natural voice recognition, wireless smartphone charging and keyless entry and start, as well as a heat pump on E-TENSE variants. Top 'Etoile' trim adds an alcantara-trimmed cabin, a head-up display, DS Matrix LED vision headlamps and scrolling rear indicators, along with a rear traffic detection pack, powered front seats, laminated and tinted rear glass, aluminium door sill protectors and pedals and the DS Drive Assist pack.

Cost of Ownership

This EV can be DC-charged at up to 120kW, allowing for a 62 mile top-up in 11 minutes. DC charging for 20-80% can be completed in just under 30 minutes. AC charging from home using a typical single-phase 7.4kW wallbox needs 5 hours and 20 minutes for 20-80% replenishment; with a three-phase 11kW supply, you can reduce that to 3 hours and 35 minutes for 20-80% replenishment. Plug into a domestic socket and you'd need a yawning 30 hours for a full charge. As usual with EVs, you can schedule charging either from the car's centre screen or via a provided DS app. And via that app, you can also pre-condition the cabin climate before you get inside so that you won't have to sap battery energy using the climate fan. Above base trim, DS provides a standard heat pump which gains heat from the ambient air, reducing the strain on the climate system in colder months. The No4 E-TENSE is, as with all EVs, BiK tax-rated at 4% - until Spring 2027, after which there'll be an annual 1% increase. There's the usual unremarkable three year / 60,000 mile Stellantis warranty. Servicing on all No4 models is needed every year or every 12,500 miles and the cost of garage visits should be affordable. Insurance is group 21 for the Hybrid and group 31 for the PHEV. Insurance is group 30 for this E-TENSE EV. Bear in mind that if you choose top 'Etoile' trim with a plug-in No4, you'll be taking the asking price over £40,000, which means you'll be subject to the government ' Luxury Car Tax' (an extra £620 annually in ownership years two to six). Residual values after 3 years and 36,000 miles are rated at 39% for this E-TENSE.

Summary

The DS brand hasn't helped itself by some strange product decisions over the last few years. Perhaps the most costly of these was to launch the DS 4 in 2022 without the full-EV drivetrain it could have borrowed from its Peugeot E-308 Stellantis Group cousin. Now that oversight has been corrected in the rather pleasantly-styled form of this DS No4 E-TENSE, perhaps the brand can start to make a little more sales headway in our market. It is, after all, the only contender in the premium compact hatch segment that can offer an EV powertrain like this as well as mild hybrid and PHEV options. And when you take the government grant into consideration, it's tightly priced too. Worth a look then? Why not. No one else in your street will have one.