Byton is an abbreviation of 'Bytes on Wheels' and presented as a company from 2017 as a subsidiary of the Chinese Future Mobility Corporation. Boss is the former i8 developer Carsten Breitfeld. With him more ambitious Germans from the automotive industry have chaned. Also those of Tesla should be among them.

There are three main locations in Silicon Valley (Santa Clara), Germany (Munich) and China (Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing). Within a year, a concept vehicle was put on the wheels, with 4.85 m length, 2.95 m wheelbase, 1.94 width and 1.65 m height comparable to the BMW X5. The production site is under construction, from the end of 2019 on will be produced.

It's the first SUV built on a single platform, along with a sedan and a cross-over. The electric drives vary between 300 and 400 Nm, the latter acting alone on Rear Wheel Drive alone and the former acting as a pair on All Wheel Drive.

Also, the ranges should be able to differ, but all over 400 km in accordance favoring driving style. Even with the price they have already set with 45,000 dollars (currently 37,500 €) or 33,000 € in China for the entry level version. Even the exterior design contains remarkable, e.g. camera-interchangeable mirrors and those in the B-pillar to identify the legitimate user.

In addition, there is light for driving and such to make the surface (Smart Surface) an art object. At the same time, attention is paid to practical solutions. Thus, the lateral window front pierces optically even a small part of the C-pillar and gives, hopefully in spite of the rear headrests, a better all-round view.

The interior is quite different from previous solutions. There is a display with 1.25 m extending over almost the entire width of the dashboard, 25 cm high. It turns out to be three-parted. The left-hand part is reserved for the driver, the center and the right-hand part are also accessible to the other passengers, without any problem, because both front seats can be turned so that the backrests move slightly outwards.

The control, even that of a cursor, should be possible with a total of 6 gestures. The twisting of the hand then corresponds to a mouse click. The steering wheel also has a display, too, where it always stays in the same position. It could be a bit dangerous, however, if you call the keyboard. But maybe this function will be compared with zero driving speed or automated driving.

Before you doubt it, the display should in any case also be part of the standard equipment. Many promises, but we will see, because in two years the car should come to the USA and then to Europe. 01/18