Ahead of the market arrival of its M-Byte electric SUV in Europe by the end of 2021, Byton has started to detail more about how its vehicles can be ordered, sold, serviced, and charged.
Of Byton’s 65,000 worldwide reservations, 25,000 are in Europe. So far those are essentially hand-raisers, but European reservations will be open for pre-orders in the second half of 2020—meaning a fully refundable down payment of 500 Euros ($560) will hold a position in vehicle production.
For Europe, the Chinese-made M-Byte will start at 45,000 Euros ($50,300), not counting the value-added tax (VAT), which varies by market/country. It also doesn’t include incentives.
Base-model M-Byte buyers get a 72-kwh battery pack and single-motor rear-wheel drive, making 272 horsepower, with a range of 224 miles in the European WLTP range method. Top models come with a 95-kwh battery pack, offering 408 hp and a range of 270 miles (WLTP) in dual-motor all-wheel-drive form or 286 miles with rear-wheel drive.
Byton Place in Zurich
Through Byton’s “hybrid” sales approach, people will configure and order their vehicle online, then take delivery and seek after-sales service at a physical facility—and for that, Byton has looked to existing dealership groups. Those partners include Hedin Automotive in Norway and Sweden, BYmyCAR in France, Louwman Group in the Netherlands, Modern Driving in Switzerland, and multiple partners yet to be announced for Germany.
On the charging side, Byton has partnered with Digital Charging Solutions, a Munich-based e-mobility company that provides access to 450 different charging station operators like Ionity, Fastned, and Allegro—adding up to access in 28 European countries and 150,000 charge points of all types.
Although the so-called Byton Life interface and ecosystem isn’t quite taking form with the grand vision originally teased—originally to include everything from gesture controls to biometric data—the 48-inch dash-width Byton Stage screen will give drivers a smart route planner with live data on charging-station availability and the capability for drivers to get a single bill for all charging.
Byton M-Byte route planning
The M-Byte for Europe will include a 22-kw mobile charger that can plug into a 240V socket, and Byton says that the larger 95-kwh battery will fast-charge (on the CCS standard) at 150 kw, taking about 35 minutes to get from 0% to 80%.
Byton also announced its first Byton Place for Europe—located in Zurich, Switzerland—where test drives, events, and tech tours will be held. The company will open about 20 such Byton Places in key European cities.
Byton Place in Zurich
Byton informed Green Car Reports that it has about 10,000 U.S. reservations to date. Since pushing back its timeline for deliveries by nearly a year last fall—and opening the possibility of Korean assembly for the U.S.—Byton hasn't provided a comprehensive update on U.S. plans; but expect a similar “hybrid” strategy for sales and service (including a charging partnership with Electrify America) when it also arrives in America (or at least California) in that same time frame, as soon as late 2021.
