New DS No7 2026 review: a Vauxhall Grandland in a posh frock

Verdict

By no means a bad car – in fact, in some disciplines it’s very good – the new DS No7 is one of those vehicles hamstrung by its shared underpinnings. Attempting to pass itself off as a luxury item isn’t easy when you know it’s a Vauxhall Grandland underneath it all, and while it is much more convincing as an E-Tense EV than as the rowdy, underpowered Hybrid, it’s also more expensive in zero-emissions format too, potentially costing as much as £67,000.

DS Automobiles’ attempts to break into the premium elite have, so far, not been as successful as the company might have anticipated – certainly not in the UK, at any rate.

But DS is hoping all that will change with its ‘second wave’ of cars, all using badging designed to make you think of Chanel No.5 perfume. And the latest product to join these ranks is arguably the most important yet: it’s the No7 SUV, drafted in to replace the big-selling DS 7.

The French firm says it has priced the No7 like a competitor for rivals such as the Audi Q4 e-tron, BMW iX1 and Volvo EX40, but would invite people to think it is as grand, luxurious and spacious as all of those competitor companies’ bigger vehicles – namely the Q6 e-tron, iX3 and EX60.

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Certainly, the angular bodywork – inspired by the corporate look begun by the No8 fastback – serves it well. It’s perhaps a little detail-busy in places, and even bordering on the generic when viewed from the rear (it looks a little bit like an oversized Kia EV4), but it’s large and imposing without being tasteless.

Inside, a 52mm-stretched wheelbase when compared to the old DS 7 means the No7 is much more spacious. And, generally, material quality inside is excellent. The seats are comfortable and plush, the driving position is decent, and the driver enjoys both a configurable instrument cluster and, depending on spec and options choices, a large head-up display.

It’s a shame that the ghastly cross-shaped steering wheel has made its way into the No7 from the No8. You never quite know where to rest your hands comfortably on it and it looks bizarre.

Also, there are too many systems that must be run through the 16-inch DS Iris infotainment screen, which shares the same too-shallow letterbox arrangement as in the related Vauxhall Grandland. It sometimes makes reading sat-nav mapping difficult on the move.

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Furthermore, the digital rearview mirror in our car was exceptionally hot to the touch when the screen had been running for a while, while the light-up portions of the dashboard also felt warm, too. You can’t help but suspect that DS has forgotten to put in adequate cooling for these electronic features.

Nevertheless, space in the back of the No7 is generous, and a 560-litre boot with all seats in use is a helpful figure for the French SUV’s case.

The biggest news in the transition from 7 to No7 is that fully electric powertrains are offered in the DS SUV for the first time. Sitting on the STLA Medium chassis, shared with the likes of the aforementioned Grandland, as well as the Citroen C5 Aircross and Peugeot E-3008 ranges, the emphasis in the No7’s line-up is on the EV derivatives, branded ‘E-Tense’ by the manufacturer.

There are three main flavours here. The first has a smaller 73.7kWh battery, a single front-mounted motor and up to 256bhp on a time-limited overboost phase. At the other end of the spectrum is the only dual-motor AWD No7, offering 370bhp, a bigger battery and 0-62mph in 5.4 seconds.

However, the one we think makes the most sense, and the one offered up by DS for the test drive, is the Long Range. Its 97.2kWh battery is shared with the AWD, but it retains the front-drive arrangement of the entry-level electric car. This gives it a claimed maximum range of 460 miles.

The No7 Long Range also summons up to 276bhp in overboost (it runs 242bhp otherwise) and backs that up with 343Nm of torque, which allows for a 0-62mph time of 7.8 seconds.

In practice, it’s this DS No7 that feels comfortably the most convincing of all. We tried a car in Etoile specification on 20-inch alloys and fitted with the company’s clever Active Scan suspension, which uses a forward-facing camera to pre-empt bumps in the road by prepping the dampers to cope with the impending hit.

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The good news is that the technology works beautifully in the No7, and the supple ride quality is arguably the strongest dynamic point of the DS. It’s aided and abetted by sumptuous refinement, the SUV’s aerodynamic body (0.26Cd) cutting through the airflow quietly and efficiently. As an easy-going form of elegant transportation, the No7 squarely hits the mark.

However, the DS EV is not quite so impressive in the corners, mainly because the steering is something and nothing. It’s weighted well and accurate, but there’s not really any meaningful feel; any resistance off dead-centre feels decidedly artificial.

Despite this, dynamically the E-Tense is nicely polished, and it’s a far more cohesive luxury product than the Hybrid. This uses the 1.2-litre MHEV three-cylinder petrol drivetrain and, frankly, in this size and supposed exalted class of car, its 143bhp is simply not enough to convey a persuasively premium air. It also doesn’t help that acceleration is lethargic in the extreme, its slovenliness only partly hinted at by a 10.4-second 0-62mph time.

The problem is, though, that the Hybrid is cheaper in all three specifications (Pallas, Etoile and La Premiere) than any of the E-Tense models. Where the petrol-powered No7 peaks at £46,890 for a La Premiere, even the basic FWD EV Pallas kicks off at £49,190.

Our Long Range Etoile would command a hefty figure of £57,190, and a top-of-the-line AWD Long Range La Premiere comes in at a startling £66,690.

So the DS No7 is, without question, a good car, especially as an E-Tense electric. But its phenomenal expense, for what is, in essence, just a C5 Aircross in a very posh frock, looks like an impediment in the face of something far superior such as BMW’s Neue Klasse iX3, which starts from £53,250.

Ultimately, the DS No7 is an easy enough car to like, but a difficult one to wholeheartedly recommend.

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