Future Mobility takes wraps off Byton e-SUV

The Foxconn and Tencent funded start-up led by former BMWi manager Carsten Breitfeld presents the first model of its Byton brand. On sale is set for 2019, first in China and a year later in Europe and the States.

The China-based Byton label uses the CES as the stage to debut its all-electric SUV in what it calls “a driveable electric concept car.” The new EV will be manufactured at Byton’s plant in Nanjing

The electric SUV shall hit the road by 2019 on the Chinese mainland. The starting price has been given at 45,000 dollars and so the SUV is to enter the U.S. and Europe in 2020.

So far, the Future Mobility label has two versions lined up. One with a rear-wheel drive with 200 kW and another driven with AWD at 400 kW. The battery is to be offered in two sizes as well, 71 and 95 kWh that last for 400 and 520 kilometres range respectively.

Other technical features prepare the car for autonomous driving such as laser and radar. Additional cameras for facial recognition enable what Byton calls Human-Vehicle Interaction. It is not unlike Nissan’s latest vehicle-to-brain technology. For Byton though, the cameras just serve to recognise the driver and to unlock the car for example.

This Byton SUV is the first to utilise a platform specifically developed for electric vehicles. Comes the next decade, Byton will produce its planned sedan and multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) on the same platform.
greencarcongress.com, electriccarsreport.com