BYTON Debuts its Intelligent Connected SUV Concept at CES

author: Eric Walz   

LAS VEGAS -- BYTON is on a mission the change the driving experience and debuted its connected, intelligent, electric vehicle of the future today at CES in Las Vegas. The vehicle is more just transportation, its a smart device on wheels, with an electric powertrain that offers a 325 mile range.

The vehicle comes level 3 autonomous ready, and the vehicle's tech can be upgraded as new technologies become available. Byton set out to design a living room on wheels for passengers. In the car of the future, autonomous driving and safety will be monitored by computers, so Byton designed the interior for connectivity, comfort, and convenience.

Some of the unique features of the vehicle are a panoramic video display that stretches across the entire dashboard. Byton calls this a ‘Shared Experience Display' enabling content shown to be shared with other passengers in the car. The vehicle also has facial recognition that allows access to the vehicle with an embedded camera in the door pillar.

BYTON's Shared Experience Display

With a panoramic screen running across the dash, drivers can watch a movie, check email, go shopping, or simply relax while on their trip. The wide display can be used by both front seat passengers, providing each with their own customized content.

The vehicle has a voice assistance system powered by Amazon's Alexa, so passengers can add items to their shopping list during a trip, and much more.

The front seats swivel, a world's first in a production vehicle. Another first is the touchscreen display mounted into the steering wheel. The concept vehicle is designed for autonomous driving, with cameras replacing side and rear view mirrors throughout the vehicle.

One concern about connected cars is security, and hacking into a self-driving vehicle. To address this threat, Byton designed its own cloud platform, which it calls the BYTON ‘Life Cloud Platform'. This platform seamlessly connects a driver's or passenger's apps, data, and devices, allowing them to take full advantage of their travel time whether for work or entertainment. BYTON Life also provides personalized services and configurations that are automatically adjusted according to users' preferences.

BYTON's core management team is made up of the world's top experts from China, Europe and the U.S., all of whom have held senior management positions at BMW, Tesla, Google and Apple.

BYTON's president and co-founder Daniel Kirchert, and CEO Carsten Breitfeld are both recognized leaders in the auto industry. Dr. Breitfeld brings cutting-edge expertise in electromechanical engineering and veteran leadership experience in automotive R&D project management. He led BMW's i8 vehicle program that gave birth to the game-changing BMW i8 luxury plug-in hybrid model.

Dr. Kirchert has an understanding of the Chinese automobile market and extensive experience in product strategy, marketing, brand management and sales network development at premium auto brands such as BMW and Infiniti in China.

Their expertise covers automotive design, automotive engineering and manufacturing, electric powertrain, intelligent connectivity, and autonomous driving, which represents BYTON's strengths in manufacturing premium automobiles that are equipped with high quality internet technologies.

BYTON says the vehicle will be available in 2019 in the U.S., China and Europe and will be built a production plant currently under construction in China.

BYTON has completed its series A financing and announced in August of 2017 that it has raised $200 million. Current shareholders include BYTON's founding team, Harmony Auto, Aulton Investments, League Automotive Technologies, Legend Capital, an industrial investment fund led by Suning Group and Fullshare Group, and Chengtun Group among other investors.

Eric Walz

Originally from New Jersey, Eric is a automotive & technology reporter covering the high-tech industry in Silicon Valley. Eric has over 15 years of automotive experience and a bachelors degree in computer science. These skills, combined with technical writing and news reporting, allows him to fully understand and identify new and innovative technologies in the auto industry and beyond. He has worked at Uber on self-driving cars and as a technical writer, helping people to understand and work with technology. Outside of work, Eric likes to travel to new places, play guitar, and explore the outdoors.