Byton-President Daniel Kirchert (l) and CEO Carsten Breitfeld
Both managers were employed by BMW before the founding of Byton.
(Photo: AFP)
In sneakers, jeans and T-shirt – so far Carsten Breitfeld had hardly presented a vehicle so far. The former BMWManager climbed loosely from the SUV, which he put on the stage at the Consumer Electronics Show CES in Las Vegas. “It feels like a dream,” said Byton, the new electric car supplier, “showing our baby to the world.”
The concept of the SUV was eagerly awaited by the auto industry. Behind Byton is some expertise and financial strength. Like Breitfeld or co-founder Daniel Kirchert, many come from the management of BMW and other German manufacturers.
The startup is funded by Chinese investors, including major names such as Tencent or Foxconn. At the end of the show, Jack Wey also took to the stage, the founder of Great Wall Motors, the major automaker in China.
A hallmark of the Byton SUV is a giant touchscreen that practically goes door to door.
(Photo: Thomas Jahn)
The new vehicle is a solid SUV with plenty of space. The design is successful, the center console is missing, the driver’s cab is set far forward – the electric car needs no engine at the front, so there is room for maneuver. Overall, the SUV is 4.85 meters long, of which accounts for almost three meters to the interior. “Our designers had to work hard to make it look good,” says Breitfeld in an interview with Handelsblatt. “It’s wonderful.”
Byton’s goal is to build an “intuitive” car that operates like a smartphone. The driver is automatically logged in by face recognition. On the steering wheel, he can operate a screen by finger pressure, “without letting go,” as Breitfeld emphasized. All passengers can with Alexa – the voice recognition of Amazon – Give commands to the computer. In China, due to the legal situation, a different language system is used and a partner is to be announced soon.
It is also possible to enter computer commands by hand, of which there are a total of five different ones. “Simplicity comes first,” said Breitfeld. “In the past, your car was outdated when they bought the next phone,” Breitfeld said. Now the car is not only prepared for software updates, but also for an exchange of sensors. Byton SUV should be the most advanced car on the market in 2019, set Breitfeld the bar high.
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The SUV is scheduled to go into production in 2019 and will initially be sold in China. The People’s Republic has become the most important market for electric cars with massive state subsidies. Byton Byton wants in the 2020 USA and then in the second half of the year to Europe. The price with the smallest battery version is around $ 45,000. The range of the 71 kilowatt-hour model is 400 kilometers, that of the larger version at 520 kilometers. In 20 minutes, the SUV charges enough power to travel 240 kilometers. With a charging time of half an hour, the battery should be 80 percent full.
The hallmark of the SUV is an unusually large screen, which is installed under the front windscreen – all 1.25 meters long. The front seats, which can be adjusted by twelve degrees, also point to the vision of Byton – the vehicle should drive itself and become “a luxurious living room,” as Breitfeld said.