Friday before the common feast, with a packed Oslo, and in the thickest pot at Aker Brygge. On the outside of the Ling-Ling restaurant, there was the new town of Byton – a conceptual version of their first model on the market – M-Byte
LOVER LIKHET: The vice president of design, Benoit Jacob, in Byton, promises that the production car will be 85% similar to the car shown in Oslo. Photo: Knut Moberg
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Prepared for Challenges
An important factor for most electric car manufacturers during the day is to ensure access to raw materials for years to come. Especially lithium, but Carsten Breifelt is not worried.
– We have a great advantage that CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd.) is one of the leading investors in Byton, he says.
CATL is China's second largest producer of batteries and, of course, also a supplier to Byton. However, Breitfeld is aware that the total market will, after all, judge a shortage of raw materials around 2019-2020.
The same day that Byton showed the car in Oslo, it was also known that CATL signed a contract with BMW of nearly 10 billion
For those who are particularly interested, it may be mentioned that it There will be prismatic battery cells at Byton, against the pocket cells, which are the most common among most – except Tesla, using Panasonic cylindrical cells. ONTURNED: Byton M-Byte was visiting Oslo on Friday. Photo: Knut Moberg
ON TURNÉ: Byton M-Byte was visiting Oslo on Friday. Photo: Knut Moberg
ONTURNED: Byton M-Byte was visiting Oslo on Friday. Photo: Knut Moberg
A little different
But what about Byton that makes him special in a market full of interesting models? Here, Breitfeld claims that Byton will do what will be a kind of "smartphone on wheels".
An empty phone does little before filling it with services in the form of applications. To a certain extent, a Byton will be too
– People will no longer talk about power and performance in terms of acceleration, says Breitfeld, who thinks that future discussions on the front will focus on his services in terms of software. Breitfeld also does not think that the customers of the car will own the cars themselves
– We believe that in the long run only half of the cars drive and are used by private individuals. he says.
The rest goes like cars in some form of carpool . Artificial intelligence, prepared for level 4 autonomous driving, the widest display of the market (1.4 meters), and other software-related features, are also topped the list what a Byton will represent
. The concept with which they equipped the concept car, designer Benoit Jacob can comfort the most: the car will have 85% of the same design elements as the concept car. It will hardly be difficult to distinguish it from the production version, he says.
SATSER BREDT: Byton equipped the M-Byte dashboard with a 1.4 meter wide screen. Photo: Knut Moberg
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Great Demand
The question is whether Byton manages to make enough cars. When the starting price is around $ 43,000 for all wheel drive with a 71 kWh battery, the demand can be high. And the list of reserves is growing day by day.
On the exhibition that took place at Aker Brygge, we did not only meet journalists and other journalists. In addition, actors in the Norwegian car industry had found their way, and many were likely to be in favor of fathers – perhaps not very useful
– We will sell the cars directly to we and our customers, concludes Carsten Breitfeld. 19659004] – Traditional car manufacturers know a lot of retailers, but they do not know their customers. We want a direct relationship, he says, leaving Aker Brygge and a crowded barge where the car is shown to customers of hungry electric cars.
