TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Chinese electric carmaker Byton raises $500m to take on Tesla
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
The Byton connected car is seen during its launch at CES 2018 in Las Vegas on January 7, 2018. (AFP/Mandel Ngan)
China-based electric car startup Byton has raised $500 million as it ramps up efforts to take on rivals like Tesla.
Byton's new capital is led by from FAW Group, Tus-Holdings, CATL and others, a statement from its North American headquarters in California said Monday.
"The success of this funding round highlights how diversified strategic investors will further expand Byton's circle of friends and broaden our development opportunities," said president and co-founder Daniel Kirchert.
"Byton is establishing a new benchmark for auto startups with four essential 'must haves,' namely technology, product, capital and factory."
Early this year, the company unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show its vision for "intuitive and intelligent" cars for global markets starting next year from around $45,000.
Read also: A $45,000 SUV you can unlock with a face scan shows China's car ambitions
Byton is led by former executives from Tesla, BMW, Apple and Google, and expects to launch in China by 2019 and in the United States and Europe by 2020.
The statement said Byton officially opened its global headquarters in Nanjing, China, which works with a research center in Silicon Valley and a design center in Munich, Germany.
The first batch of prototype models is set to roll out in April 2019 for testing, with the pilot production program starting in the first half of 2019.
Byton has also been working on autonomous driving technology, with some self-driving functions expected to be incorporated in its first models.
At CES, Byton executives showed how the car could use facial recognition to unlock and adapt to the driver, as well as offer a range of other ways to interact, including voice control with Amazon Alexa, touch and gesture.
