DS 3 Crossback E-Tense 2021 long-term review

For our first taste of Onto's pay-as-you-go electric motoring, we sample a swish compact crossover

*Why we’re running it: *To see if app-based subscription services can replace ownership as the future of motoring

-Month 1 - Specs-

-Life with a monthly car subscription: Month 2-

*If range anxiety gives you the chills, may we suggest a hot-water bottle? - 5 May 2021*

After little over a month of use, I’ve really gelled with Onto’s smartphone app.

Having your remaining permitted mileage on screen every time you go to unlock the car pretty much ensures you will never accidentally go over your monthly 1000-mile allowance. Need to head out on a longer trip that will nudge you over? It’s simple enough to extend your limit through the website. An extra 250 miles costs £30 and can be automatically rolled into your next monthly contract if you want.

I haven’t yet needed to use the car location function, as most of my supermarket runs are done late at night, but it really is pinpoint accurate. Once car parks start filling up again and long-term airport parking becomes more than a fantasy, I’m sure it will come in handy.

The car itself has thrown up a few irritations, though. When my other half sat in the back recently (present restrictions mean our loved ones are currently supplying all the over-the- shoulder photographs you see on these pages), she was surprised by how dark and enclosed it felt. There’s certainly a lot of padding on the door sills and the beltline, plus that kink in the window, so passengers are quite cocooned. I haven’t a clue why the doors need two grab handles, either: only one actually opens the door, and the other is too high up to reach without some major contortion.

Also, while head room was good enough for me when I clambered back there, this is very much a compact crossover. I don’t have my seat pushed too far back while driving, but rear leg room is still compromised. Kids will be fine, but adults might struggle on long trips.

Another bugbear is the lack of heated seats. Considering the E-Tense is easily the priciest take on PSA’s small electric platform and Ultra Prestige is the top trim level, it’s baffling that there’s not even an option to add heated seats when configuring a car on the DS website.

It’s much more efficient to just heat your bum than it is to warm up the entire cabin using the climate control; and given the somewhat mediocre range I’m getting, it’s something that our car would very much benefit from.

Both the Peugeot e-208 and Vauxhall Corsa-e have heated seats as an option, and they cost significantly less. The former is available through Onto for £449 per month in GT Line trim – some £80 less than our DS.

I strongly prefer superminis to baby SUVs, so think I would go for the Peugeot if I were spending my own money – or go the other way and raise my budget for a 64kWh Hyundai Kona Electric, which costs £589 per month but promises significantly greater range per charge.

I’ve been getting my money’s worth from BP Pulse and Shell Recharge, at least. Each rapid charge of between 10kW and 30kW would cost between £4 and £12 for pay- as-you-go customers, plus the £7.85 per month if you were to pay for the former’s subscription tier service. That’s about £45 a month ‘saved’ by having both bundled with the Onto package – although of course those sums wouldn’t add up for anyone with the ability to charge at home.

*Love it:*

*At-a-glance stats *Onto’s app shows all the useful information you need on its home screen without bombarding you with other, less useful things.

*Loathe it:*

*No heated seats *The E-Tense not having heated seats as standard is inexplicable, given the range loss that comes with heating an entire cabin.

*Mileage: 741*

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*Charging only good as the network - 21 April 2021*

I use BP Pulse and Shell Recharge exclusively now they’re part of Onto’s ‘all-inclusive’ subscription package, but reliability isn’t a given. A 50kW CCS charger recently failed to detect the car, and a 43kW AC connection promised just 26 miles of range per hour. I only needed a top-up; a full charge would have meant a near-six-hour layover.

*Mileage: 576*

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*What happens when your subscription car gets a puncture? - 14 April 2021*

When the tyre-pressure warning light came on as I took my first drive in our electric DS, I figured that an overzealous valeter had adjusted the pressures but not reset the TPMS prior to delivery.

Having met photographer Max and had the car papped, I reset the system and crossed my fingers. However, I found once I’d arrived home that the offside rear tyre was indeed quite def lated. I pumped it back up and hoped for the best, but it soon lost pressure again.

That meant putting in a call to the dedicated support line for car subscription service Onto, from which we’ve obtained the DS. The person at the other end agreed that it could have been a pre-delivery issue, so a replacement was sourced and at-home fitting arranged for free.

The subscription fee includes general wear and tear for tyres, with free replacements when the tread approaches the legal limit (within the manufacturer’s expected timeline), but punctures are usually chargeable.

With that issue sorted, I’ve been able to enjoy the E-Tense a bit more. The interior may not be particularly airy, but it’s a pleasant enough place to be on longer drives and doesn’t suffer from wind noise as much as some rivals when travelling at speed.

*Mileage: 362*

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-Life with a monthly car subscription: Month 1-

*A quick charge check - 31 March 2021*

Apparently I managed to overcharge the DS to 101% this week. Glitches like this aren’t the norm (the Onto EV subscription app is usually very accurate), but a battery percentage isn’t as useful as knowing how many miles you have left before needing to find a charger. The car itself was predicting a meagre 50-mile range during a recent cold spell, despite holding more than 50% charge.

*Mileage: 130*

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*Signing up to On.To and welcoming the DS 3 to the fleet - 24 March 2021*

It’s not just Netflix, Spotify and Amazon Prime any more. You can get a subscription service for just about anything, from flowers and coffee pods to bacon and crates of beer.

Can we now add cars to that growing list? I’m hoping to find out over the next few months with Onto, the UK’s first subscription car service to offer an entirely electric line-up.

Onto is an all-in-one offering, with a single monthly payment covering the hire cost of the car, along with fully comprehensive insurance, 24/7 roadside assistance, servicing, Polar Plus and Shell Recharge charging memberships, plus tyre wear and tear (although not punctures). All cars have a forward-facing dashcam, too.

Unlike with a traditional contract hire agreement, there’s no need to pay a deposit and the minimum contract length is just one month. There’s also no registration paperwork to worry about, and while mileage is limited to 1000 miles per month, you can pay more if you want to drive farther.

The sign-up process, which asks for your driving licence and credit card details, as well as a picture of you holding your licence, is done through your web browser and takes less than 10 minutes. It can then take up to two days for a human to authenticate your account, but after that, you’re good to go: pick a car, say when you want it and sign your contract. You’re kept informed via email at every step up to delivery day. Pre-pandemic, there was a collection service, but paying £50 for home delivery is now the way to go.

When the car arrives, you check it over for any damage and accept delivery digitally, much like you would do with any lease car. From then on, everything is done through Onto’s smartphone app. You don’t even get a car key; the app unlocks the doors. It also records where you’re parked, how much charge is remaining and how many miles you have left until the end of the month.

The fleet includes superminis like the Renault Zoe, which can be had from £339 per month, family cars such as the Hyundai Kona Electric and even premium models like the Tesla Model S, Jaguar I-Pace and Audi E-tron, the latter setting you back a significant £1299 per month.

We opted to start the test with a DS 3 Crossback E-Tense, for which Onto charges £529 per month. Leasing one would have cost us around £4000 upfront, then £375 a month for three years directly from the manufacturer. Does that represent good value for those who don’t want to be tied into a multi-year agreement? We have two months to find out before we swap it for a different model to try out the handover process.

On delivery day, the driver’s Covid discipline was spot on. The app’s functions were explained from two metres away, as was the fact that all doors need to be shut before the car’s start button will work. Will whipping out my phone and opening an app to lock the doors become an annoyance? I’m not sure, but I already appreciate not having to remember to pocket a key every time I leave the house.

This is our first opportunity to spend some extended time with Stellantis’s premium compact crossover, which shares a platform and electric powertrain with the Peugeot e-2008 and Vauxhall Mokka-e. The 3 Crossback E-Tense has the same 50kWh battery and 136bhp motor powering the front axle, which should be good for up to 198 miles of range or 0-62mph in 8.7sec – although seeing both in the span of a single charge is unlikely.

Ours is the top-end Ultra Prestige version, which includes uprated 18in alloy wheels, matrix LED headlights, a reversing camera and an advanced safety pack as standard, plus some optional extras, but we weren’t given any choice in the matter: customers get what the company has in stock.

First impressions of the car? The seating position is a big improvement on that of the Zoe I ran recently, being much more low-slung and reclined, but the undeniably French interior will take some getting used to. Why the window switches are found in the centre console and the wing-mirror adjustment set into the dashboard is something of a mystery.

The powertrain also feels punchier than the Zoe’s, despite the similar output. I see most of my time being spent in Sport mode, where throttle response is that bit more immediate.

Happily, there’s a Chargemaster rapid charger 10 minutes from home: with the £7.85-a-month subscription and cost of electricity used included in Onto’s subscription, some maths will be needed to work out savings over the course of my stewardship.

*Second Opinion*

The DS3 has so many little quirks, contrivances and curiosities, from the switchgear design and layout, to the look of the instruments. It will be fascinating to watch whether Tom ends up liking the car for its various points of difference, gets so used to them that they become invisible or is simply driven to distraction by them. After a few days with one last year, I ended up in camp number three, I must say, but greater familiarity might be all it takes.

*Matt Saunders*

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-DS 3 Crossback E-Tense specification-

*Specs: Price New* £36,800 *Price as tested* £529 per month *Options *Artense Grey metallic paint £550, Perla Nera Black roof £200, Art Black Basalt nappa leather seats £950, Premium safety pack £550, head-up display £300

*Test Data: Engine* Permanent magnet synchronous electric motor *Power* 134bhp *Torque* 192lb ft *Kerb weight* 1523kg *Top speed* 93mph *0-62mph* 8.7sec *Range* 199 miles *CO2* 0g/km *Faults* None *Expenses* None

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