New electric car brand Byton doesn’t want you to think of their product as a car, but as a smart device. They recently unveiled their first concept, an SUV, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). While it may not look all that different from a regular SUV on the outside, the interior features a sprawling display screen controlled by hand gestures – the first hint that Byton aims to make the car of the future.
“The future of design is digital,” Byton says on their website. Their electric SUV reflects that idea: it’s equipped with multiple screens allowing a driver to interact with the car. There’s an eight-inch tablet in the steering wheel and a 49 by 9.8 inch Shared Experience Display allowing for navigation, communication with others, or entertainment.
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Voice recognition, biometric identification, and touch control also allow a driver to interact with the car. Byton’s Life Cloud Platform connects devices, apps, and data so drivers can work or be entertained during a trip. It’s a key-less vehicle – a facial recognition camera allows or denies access. Rotating front seats can turn inward 12 degrees.
That’s not to mention the car won’t be powered by polluting fuels. Instead, it can be equipped with a 95 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery pack that will allow drivers to travel 323 miles on one charge. The base version beginning at $45,000 will have a 71 kWh battery pack offering a range of 248.5 miles. The company says users can charge a battery pack up to 80 percent in 30 minutes.
Byton, which is the international brand of China-based Future Mobility Corporation, plans to bring the car to China in 2019 and the United States and Europe in 2020. Executives from Tesla, BMW, and Nissan started the company. Time will tell if the company will be able to bring their futuristic concept to production.
Images via Byton Facebook and website
