At CES, we were able to briefly board the Byton electric car for a short test session. Our impressions.
Presented last January 7th at an event organized on the sidelines of the CES, young car manufacturer Byton’s first electric car was also available for testing on an outdoor Ride & Drive. The opportunity to learn more about its features and discover the first feelings on board.
Inside
When you board the Byton electric car, one thing is striking: the brightness. While this one had escaped us during the first presentation in a dark room of the Mandalay Bay, the test organized on the external track lets glimpse a large glass surface traversing all the roof and illuminating the whole of the cockpit.
During xx big minutes we were presented several features of the car including those offered by the gigantic screen. Running through the entire dashboard and completed by a second screen, integrated in the center of the steering wheel, it does not seem to interfere as we thought the field of vision of the driver.
Gesture control system, message management, monitoring device to monitor the health status of occupants etc. If our interlocutor has insisted on many other features, such as the Alexa voice assistance system or the recognition device facial, are trapped. On this point, we imagine that Byton might not be totally ready to present us with all the innovations promised during the press presentation. Same for perceived quality: seats make noise, the carpet of ground frail with the force of seeing the journalists pass … That does not matter, the manufacturer still has a few months to refine his model and it is not rare that the prototypes revealed at the shows are not still fully operational.
The driving
As evidenced by the video above, we were not able to get behind the wheel of the car and we just had to live the experience as a passenger. In practice, the proposed test was very short and we could only achieve two or three turns of a microscopic circuit. Silence, acceleration, etc. If the Byton model takes all the advantages of the electric, it is difficult to give a real opinion.
Only highlight: a slight rattling noise – that can be heard in the video – which suggests that a room is walking in the car. Once again, Byton’s electric car is still a prototype and a lot needs to be improved.
Launch in 2019
Expected in 2019 in China and 2020 in the United States and Europe, the Byton electric car will be offered with two battery configurations – 71 or 95 kWh – with a range of 400 and 520 km respectively.
On the fast charging side, the “test drive” at CES confirmed the presence of the Combo CCS standard. The officials present did not however tell us how far the load could climb.
