A pioneer amongst the premium manufacturers competing in Formula E, DS Automobiles celebrated its 150th start in the championship in Shanghai last weekend. A symbolic milestone that provides an opportunity to look back on more than 10 years of electric racing, crowned by four titles and a consistent presence at the forefront of the field.
One hundred and fifty races represents nearly 11 seasons spent travelling the world and developing cutting-edge technologies. When DS Automobiles joined the championship in 2015, alongside Virgin Racing and its founder Richard Branson, Formula E had only just completed its first season.
During that inaugural campaign, all teams were equipped with identical single-seaters. From the 2015–16 season onwards, however, the regulations changed to allow manufacturers to design their own powertrains.
The engine, transmission, power electronics and certain rear suspension components became ‘open’ areas, left to the discretion and ingenuity of each team. DS Automobiles seized this opportunity immediately, and success was not long in coming: as early as the fourth race of the season, in February 2016, Sam Bird took victory on the streets of Buenos Aires. This first victory marked the start of a long run of results that would accompany the brand through the seasons and across generations of single-seaters.
Three generations of cars and eight powertrains
The adventure began with the DS Virgin DSV-01, DSV-02 and DSV-03, entered for 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 in partnership with Virgin Racing. The arrival of Gen2, from 2018-19 onwards, marked a significant step up in scale. In collaboration with its Chinese partner Techeetah, DS successively fielded the DS E-Tense FE19, FE20 and FE21. More powerful and equipped with a higher-capacity battery, these new single-seaters are capable of completing an entire E-Prix.
Until then, each driver had to use two single-seaters during the same race.
Since the 2022-23 campaign, DS Automobiles has continued its partnership with Penske Autosport as part of the third generation of electric single-seaters. The DS E-Tense FE23 was used during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, before being replaced by the DS E-Tense FE25 from 2024-25 onwards. This development coincided with the introduction of the Gen3 Evo, billed as the fastest and most high-performance single-seater ever entered in Formula E.
Maximilian Guenther, DS penske
Photo by: DPPI
Since its debut in Formula E, DS Performance – the racing division of DS Automobiles – has developed three generations of electric single-seaters and no fewer than eight powertrains, each more high-performance than the last.
The golden age with DS Techeetah
The partnership with Techeetah remains, to this day, the most successful period in DS Automobiles’ history in Formula E. In the 2018-19 season, DS Techeetah won the constructors’ championship and retained its title the following year, becoming the first team to secure two consecutive titles since the championship’s inception.
These two team titles were also accompanied by two drivers’ titles: Jean-Eric Vergne was crowned at the end of the 2018–2019 season, before António Félix da Costa succeeded him the following campaign. Beyond this period of dominance, DS Automobiles has distinguished itself through its consistency. The brand finished third in the championship on four occasions and also took fourth in the 2016-17 season and fifth in 2022-23 and 2024-25. Over its first 10 full seasons, DS has thus finished on the championship podium seven times, including twice on the top step. No other manufacturer can boast such a record.
Four titles and nearly 2,000 points
Since its debut in 2015-16, and based on the data available to date, DS Automobiles has scored a total of 1,987 points. Its most successful campaign remains season eight (2021-22), which concluded with 266 points, whilst the two seasons in which it won the constructors’ title ended with 222 and 244 points respectively. These figures illustrate DS Automobiles’ consistency in a championship that has undergone profound changes.
Generations of single-seaters, partners, race formats and technologies have changed, yet this has not prevented the men and women of DS Automobiles from remaining at the forefront.
Around 27,000 kilometres covered in race conditions
Reaching the 150 E-Prix milestone also represents a considerable distance accumulated in competition. Taking an average distance of 90 kilometres per E-Prix as a benchmark, it can be estimated that the two single-seaters entered have covered a total of nearly 27,000 kilometres in race conditions. A distance that more than doubles when private testing, free practice sessions and qualifying sessions are included!
Antonio Felix da Costa, DS Techeetah
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
This estimate gives an idea of the scale of the programme run for over 10 years by France’s only premium car manufacturer. Spanning eight powertrains and three generations of cars, Formula E has become a veritable technological laboratory, enabling DS Automobiles to develop components and software for its production models.
The adventure continues with DS Penske
Following stints with Virgin Racing and Techeetah, DS Automobiles has been competing in Formula E with Penske Autosport since season nine – 2022-23.
This partnership notably enabled the brand to return to the podium in the teams’ championship during the 2023-24 season.
DS Automobiles’ 150th race start not only marked an anniversary but also highlighted more than a decade of technological development, international competition and commitment at the very highest level of electric single-seater racing.
In reaching this milestone, the French manufacturer also highlights that it boasts one of the most impressive track records in the history of Formula E, with four championship titles, 18 race wins, 55 podium finishes and 26 pole positions.
Maximilian Guenther, DS penske, Jean-Eric Vergne, DS penske
Photo by: DPPI
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– The Autosport.com Team
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