That doesn't mean that a pantograph cannot be installed at some point in the future, though. I don't have any links to hand, but I'm sure in one of his talks Adrian Shooter mentioned that it didn't really matter where the supply came from. I would assume there would have to be some sort of transformer set-up required if it were to take "raw" 25kV AC, though.
I've been following the progress of this project from the start, and I'm glad to see that a few units have made it into service. I'm also grateful to
@Bletchleyite and others for their thoughts but I'm somewhat disappointed that I have yet to hear the sound of hat-munching from the more salubrious parts of Cheshire.
It has always amused me that, after 260 pages of discussion on this forum, some people still cannot see beyond the "clapped out former metro unit that can only do 60mph" mentality. The D-stock was a platform that was recently retired from service and surplus to requirements. It was a platform which could be experimented on without removing units from revenue-earning service. What we have is a train that that can be fitted with various traction packages according to the needs of the operator, and can be re-configured according to changing needs without too much effort. The D-stock was a convenient vessel. There's nothing to stop the same technology being applied to a brand new train.
This is Great British Garden Shed Engineering at its best. I don't mean that in a derogatory way, either - this is what we're good at. Why should all the best technological solutions have to come from a multinational conglomorate?