Byton to debut sedan concept at CES Asia, near-production SUV in Milan
The Chinese EV startup is doubling down on concepts this year after a successful showing at CES in Las Vegas.
Way back in January, self-driving startup Byton gave us a glimpse at its idea of the future of driving with its electric SUV concept. It was an exciting concept, made more so by the fact that Byton had concrete plans for production, going so far as to give us pricing targets and production timelines. Now Byton is going a step further by promising to introduce a sedan concept at CES Asia in June, according to Autocar.
The sedan concept's announcement comes hot on the heels of Byton showing off its nearly production-ready version of the SUV concept in Milan for fashion week, so clearly, the Chinese startup isn't wasting any time. The SUV claims to have a range of 323 miles and a power output of 469 horsepower. We'd expect the sedan version to be similar, or possibly better when it comes to range due to a lower, more slippery body shape.
Byton also promises a seven-seat people hauler to round out its trio of vehicles for launch -- whether this will look like a large SUV or a minivan is anyone's guess, though since all three vehicles are going to use the same platform, we'd lean toward the latter.
The Byton SUV is slated to go on sale to the Chinese public at the end of 2019 and US sales are to follow in 2020, with pricing expected to be around the $46,000 mark before any incentives or fees. Currently, Byton plans to build its vehicles in its new Nanjing plant, which is set to open in June though there is potential for the company to open a plant in the US to skirt potential trade tariffs.
We were impressed with the concept that we saw in Las Vegas in January, so we'll be eagerly looking forward to the opportunity to get behind the tablet-laden wheel of the Byton and tell you just how well that company's vision of the future works on the roads of today.