DS 7 E-TENSE 225

France's latest take on the executive SUV lands with a mid-ranking PHEV powertrain

- RICHARD LANE

TESTED 22.3.23, OXFORDSHIRE ON SALE NOW

The DS 7-favoured wheels of the French president - has been updated for 2023, and the new car arrives in the UK with a range that starts at about £36,000 but tops out at more than £60,000.

The most interesting derivatives are found at those extremities. At the top sits the new E-Tense 4x4 360, whose 355bhp, four-wheel-drive, bi-motor plug-in hybrid powertrain is essentially the same one found in the Peugeot 508 PSE, a performance saloon we rate highly. Meanwhile, the entry-level BlueHDi 130 is a front-driven 1.5-litre diesel whose underwhelming 10.7sec 0-62mph time ought to be in part outweighed by fine cruising economy. Given you can still pick mid-ranking but convincingly plush Rivoli trim, it could be a bit of a motorway hero lavish within, efficient and decently spacious, all for less than £40,000.

Our first taste, though, comes from the mid-ranking E-Tense 225, a PHEV that pairs a petrol engine with an electric motor for a combined 221bhp and 266lb ft, all of it going through the front wheels via an eight-speed automatic gearbox.