Byton Starts Manufacturing Its All-electric SUV

Byton, a Silicon Valley based and Chinese backed automaker has finally started production of its first electric vehicle, the M-Byte SUV. The new SUV will be made in Byton's Nanjing plant in China in a brand new facility which will also serve as the brand's new headquarters. Byton is currently manufacturing the SUV for testing including those required to meet crash norms around the world. Byton will soon be showcasing this production ready version, which will hit the markets by next year. The Byton SUV will take on the likes of the recently teased Tesla Model Y and will be priced under the $50,000 mark making it extremely competitive as it is about the same size as a Tesla Model X which costs nearly two times as much.

Byton has already opened reservations for the SUV, which in turn does give you, as a prospective buyer a priority when pre-bookings open eventually. The Byton SUV as we mentioned earlier, will be available in two variants. The more affordable variant will have a 71 kilo watt per hour battery with about 400 kilometres of range on a single charge. This variant will sport just one rear mounted motor making 268 bhp and 400 Nm of torque. The more expensive version will pack a more power battery pack making 95 kilo watts per hour and will have two motors giving the SUV all wheel drive. This variant will pack 469 bhp and 709 Nm of peak torque.

Straight up, it is very clear that this new SUV is gunning straight for the likes of the Tesla Model X, the upcoming Mercedes-Benz EQC and the recently launched Jaguar I-Pace. The design is certainly a lot more towards the crossover side of things as compared to the traditional SUV that we in India still love, but well, that's the way all the automakers of the world are going, a lot softer and more approachable on design.