Chinese-built electric SUV revealed at the Frankfurt motor show packs a heap of technology and could be coming to Australia.
Spanning 48-inches across, this is the largest digital dash in a vehicle.
It is the same unit seen in the concept vehicle unveiled by Byton at last year’s CES show. But it’s not a fanciful idea, it is going into production.
With so much real estate to fill, the curved screen is split into three sections. The driver’s side shows everything you’d expect on a dash cluster, like the speed, battery capacity, automated driving assists and range left. The middle section is versatile and can show data such as navigation or information for other passengers in the cabin and lastly, the passenger’s section shows entertainment options, climate control settings, and more detailed nav information.
Though we’ve seen a dual driver/passenger screen setup in the new Porsche Taycan, nothing comes close to matching the size of the Byton’s 48-inch high-def display.
Facial recognition cameras are used to automatically move seating positions and change entertainment settings, and the wide-screen display has a movie mode for when the car is in park, dimming the lights and utilising surround sound stereo.
The EV start-up company has put on a large display at the Frankfurt motor show this week, showcasing its upcoming M-Byte that will go on sale in Europe and the US after its debut in China, sometime near 2021. It could also come to Australia, the company previously stating that right-hand drive markets the UK, Japan, and Australia were under consideration for a 2022 launch.
The flagship SUV is a fully-electric vehicle with two drivetrain options. The base model is rear-wheel drive with a 72kWh battery that powers a 201kW electric motor and has a WLTP claimed driving range of 360km. The top-spec model gets a 95kWh battery with 300kW total output from two motors (front and rear) and a 435km range.
Pricing for the M-Byte will start from around USD$45,000.
