Chinese start-up company Byton will bring its the M-Byte electric SUV to right-hand drive markets such as the UK if there is enough interest, and “the signs are good”, according to CTO David Twohig. The M-Byte has been in development for two years. Launching on the Chinese market initially, with customer deliveries set to get underway in the middle of 2020, it’s planned to arrive in Europe in early 2021 at a starting price of €45,000 (£40,280). Twohig, formerly chief engineer at Alpine, claims the delay in getting the car to Europe is “mostly for software reasons”. The company gets mapping data from Baidu – effectively China’s Google – but must work with different partners in Europe. “We have to establish that and then iron out all the bugs, to ensure everything works as it should”. 100 prototypes have been built so far, with other half of those destroyed during testing. The production car on display – described as 100% finished – bears a strong resemblance to the concept that was revealed earlier this year and retains that car’s distinctive 48in curved ‘Shared Experience Display’, the largest infotainment screen yet fitted to a production car. The screen forms part of what Byton calls “a digital lounge feeling” and allows passengers to access connectivity services and vehicle controls. The display is no touch operated, instead it is designed to be primarily controlled via an 7.0in screen located in the centre of the steering wheel or a 8.0in tablet mounted between the two front seats, but can also be controlled by voice or gesture control. It is covered by a layer of shatter-proof glass to minimise risk of injury in a collision. Byton CTO David Twohig reiterated the development and production cost involved in such as screen, noting that it’s “automotive grade – meaning it has to last more than 10 years, is designed to cope with shocks of up to 2G, and extreme temperatures”. Other defining features of the interior are a flat floor (made possible by the lack of a transmission tunnel), a floating dashboard, rotating front seats and a comprehensive list of personalisation options. It also features autonomous functions in the Level 2 category, though Twohig railed against the over-simplification the levels create, stating the M-Byte is “probably between 2.5 and 2.99”. Some tech features from the concept, such as facial recognition for the doors and cameras replacing wing mirrors, have been removed for production. For the former, Twohig claims the tech “doesn’t offer anything to the customer” to justify the significant development cost, while the latter is “made difficult by regulations”. The M-Byte range opens with the 72kWh entry-level model that’s driven by a single, rear-mounted motor producing 268bhp and capable of 360 miles on the WLTP test cycle. An optional larger-capacity battery offers a range of up to 460 miles. The range-topping four-wheel-drive variant has a 95kWh battery that yields a 435-mile range as standard and uses a motor on each axle for a power output of 402bhp. There is no air suspension or adaptive dampers, instead Twohig insisted his team of chassis engineers focused on creating a comfortable ride “the good old-fashioned way” rather than trying to offer a compromise between sportiness and comfort. Twohig admits this allowed development costs to be spent elsewhere. All versions of the M-Byte are capable of 150kW rapid charging and can therefore be topped up to 80% capacity from empty in as little as 35 minutes. Byton is working with suppliers globally to ensure a 22kW home wallbox installation is ready for deliveries. Byton claims to have taken more than 50,000 reservations worldwide and has already subjected the M-Byte to a number of test processes, including stringent crash tests to US and EU standards. The pre-ordering process for US and European customers, however, will not open until early next year. There will not be traditional dealers, rather a handful of showrooms in regions served by a distribution partner. The start-up is Chinese owned and funded, but Twohig claims “we want to an have to be global to be taken seriously”. Twohig and a 400-strong technical and engineering team are based in Santa Clara, near the Silicon Valley in California. The design team is based in Munich, Germany, while production is based in Nanjing, China, with a new facility (described as “much like Nissan’s Sunderland plant by Twohig”) able to build 300,000 units annually. Byton CEO Daniel Kirchert said: “We’re on the verge of starting series production, and the feedback from media and especially from our future customers is of great relevance to us. “Today’s unveiling of the Byton M-Byte also shows the effort paying off for the team, which has worked relentlessly on the car for over two years. Within that short amount of time, we have taken a smart electric car from an initial idea on a white sheet of paper to series-production readiness, while also building
Origin: Byton M-Byte: high-tech electric SUV could come to the UK
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Byton M-Byte electric SUV breaks cover in production form
Chinese start-up company Byton has revealed a near-production-ready version of its first model, the M-Byte electric SUV. The M-Byte has been in development for two years. Launching on the Chinese market initially, with customer deliveries set to get underway in the middle of 2020, it’s planned to arrive in Europe in 2021 at a starting price of €45,000 (£40,280). That’s slightly more than the expected European price of the new Tesla Model Y. The production car bears a strong resemblance to the concept that was revealed earlier this year and retains that car’s distinctive 48in curved ‘Shared Experience Display’, the largest infotainment screen yet fitted to a production car. The screen forms part of what Byton calls “a digital lounge feeling” and allows passengers to access connectivity services and vehicle controls. The display can be controlled via an 7.0in screen located in the centre of the steering wheel or an 8.0in tablet mounted between the two front seats and is covered by a layer of shatter-proof glass to minimise risk of injury in a collision. Other defining features of the interior are a flat floor (made possible by the lack of a transmission tunnel), a floating dashboard, rotating front seats and a comprehensive list of personalisation options. The M-Byte range opens with the 72kWh entry-level model that’s driven by a single, rear-mounted motor producing 268bhp and capable of 360 miles on the WLTP test cycle. An optional larger-capacity battery offers a range of up to 460 miles. The range-topping four-wheel-drive variant has a 95kWh battery that yields a 435-mile range as standard and uses a motor on each axle for a power output of 402bhp. All versions of the M-Byte are capable of 150kW rapid charging and can therefore be topped up to 80% capacity from empty in as little as 35 minutes. Byton claims to have taken more than 50,000 reservations worldwide and has already subjected the M-Byte to a number of test processes, including stringent crash tests to US and EU standards. The pre-ordering process for US and European customers, however, will not open until early next year. Byton CEO Daniel Kirchert said: “We’re on the verge of starting series production, and the feedback from media and especially from our future customers is of great relevance to us. “Today’s unveiling of the Byton M-Byte also shows the effort paying off for the team, which has worked relentlessly on the car for over two years. Within that short amount of time, we have taken a smart electric car from an initial idea on a white sheet of paper to series-production readiness, while also building a coherent infrastructure with locations on three continents and an efficient industry 4.0 production facility in
Origin: Byton M-Byte electric SUV breaks cover in production form
Autocar confidential: Byton thanks Tesla, Fiat pumps out more Pandas, and more
As we chat to the motoring industry’s bigwigs this week, we hear how Tesla made life easier for Byton, how Audi will differentiate between each of its SUVs and more. Fiat Pandas to market demand It may be ageing but sales of the Fiat Panda have risen substantially this year, thanks to the popular new City Cross model. The high-riding, snappily dressed version looks like a four-wheel drive (a version you can still buy) but isn’t. Volkswagen: diesel’s not dead… yet Volkswagen sales and marketing boss Jürgen Stackmann says the brand isn’t giving up on diesel yet. “There is nowhere the date (we give up on diesel) is written,” he said. “We believe diesel is great for certain vehicle types and long-distance drives, with unparalleled efficiency. We’re the only manufacturer that has actually grown its diesel mix. We’ll give it a strong shot for EU7.” Ingolstadt draws up a plan Audi’s ever-growing SUV range makes varying the design of each model vital in order to identify its place in the line-up, according to Jakob Hirzel, exterior design leader of the recently facelifted Q7. “It’s about character, and identifying where it makes sense to make them different,” he said. “It’s a much bigger line-up now, so it’s a challenge to make sure they all make sense.” Byton boards the Tesla train Tesla’s early success helped lay the groundwork for other electric car makers, according to Byton CEO Carsten Breitfeld. “They did a great job to build up this premium electric brand. They changed the perceptions of people,” he said. Hiring designers and engineers for the upcoming M-Byte SUV was that much easier because “no one is questioning the potential of electric cars any more. No one would say an electric car is something
Origin: Autocar confidential: Byton thanks Tesla, Fiat pumps out more Pandas, and more
Byton M-Byte SUV gearing up for production
Chinese electric start-up Byton will begin initial production of its M-Byte SUV this summer, ahead of volume manufacturing by the end of 2019 – but will do without company co-founder Carsten Breitfeld. The former BMW i-division boss is set to step down as Byton CEO for a new, undisclosed role within the start-up industry. “Carsten helped build a strong Byton brand and bring in the right people to take our start-up to the next level,” Byton co-founder and CEO Dr. Daniel Kirchert. “Now we are focusing on our main goal to achieve the on-time-start-of-production of the first Byton series production model in 2019 with our strong team and partners. “Thanks to our founding team and all employees we’re well on track and looking forward to delivering the M-Byte this year to customers in China, followed by the US and Europe in 2020.” The production version of the M-Byte will be built at the company’s Nanjing facility, which is on schedule to open within the next three months. The car will then debut in the Chinese market towards the end of the year, ahead of the introduction of the K-Byte saloon in 2022. Byton will appoint a new CTO shortly, as it prepares to close its final round of investment funding. It recently secured £385 million to help it take on established players such as Tesla. Byton’s chief vehicle engineer is Irishman David Twohig, who formerly worked for the Renault-Nissan Alliance and won the Mundy Award for Engineering at the 2018 Autocar Awards for his work on the Alpine A110. We caught up with Twohig at the Pebble Beach Concours event to find out more about Byton’s ambitious plans. Where is Byton in terms of products? “Getting close. Launch is committed for China in 2019, we’ll do North America a few months later and we’ll be in Europe at the back end of 2020. The plant at Nanjing is going ahead at a speed I’ve never seen in 26 years in the car industry. We’ll be building the first off-tool prototypes early next year.” Will all Byton vehicles sit on the same platform? “Yes. It’s not a sandwich construction like the Chevrolet Bolt, for example. We are very much leaning on established technologies — that’s why they hired guys like me, an old soldier from existing OEMs. We’re relying on technology you can scale with minimum investment, and the plant in Nanjing is set up to do that, to do different wheelbases with all vehicles built on a single line.” Why stick with ‘three-box’ design when you don’t have engines up front? “I’d say we’ve made a bit of a rupture with the K-Byte. It looks like a three-box but it’s really not, we’ve got a completely open space in front of the driver and passenger, which is why we’ve been able to create the idea of seats that swivel 12 degrees when the car is running autonomously. It’s clever packaging.” You are committed to having partial autonomy from launch, but how quickly will you be able to deliver true ‘eyes off’ autonomy? “We are autonomous driving optimists or I wouldn’t be standing in front of this vehicle. Yes, there have been some over-optimistic claims, but we do believe it’s going to happen very quickly. The key with Level 4 is whether we are talking all the time and everywhere, in which case it is still a very big ask. But if we’re talking about Level 4 most of the time and most of the world, certainly where you don’t have extreme weather conditions. We think it will be very soon, within the life of this vehicle.” The big question: how will Byton succeed and actually make money where other EV makers have failed? “First, we have economy of scale. This is a low-margin industry so you need the volume. The Nanjing plant isn’t a little shop, it’s 300,000 vehicles (per year), hence the platform strategy and cost engineering so we can offer them at £35,000. Second is the fact the cars are built in China, which really keeps your cost base down. Thirdly, the kind of technology we have plus the connectivity of the car is going to generate revenue streams that we don’t even know about today. Up until 2006 we thought that telephones were for making calls; now they generate a bunch of revenue we didn’t even think of back
Origin: Byton M-Byte SUV gearing up for production
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