It's official: the 48-inch touchscreen display that Byton teased last month made it to the final production model.
A couple weeks ago, Byton released a sneak peek of its first production model of the M-Byte electric SUV, and on Sunday the company showed off the final design at CES 2019, and we got a closer look at all those cockpit touch screens in action.
The star of the design is definitely the dashboard-length display, the Shared Experience screen, followed by the touchscreen tablet-equipped steering wheel.
According to Byton president and CEO Daniel Kirchert, the massive screen is less distracting than traditional control panels -- it doesn't obstruct driver field of vision like the teaser image suggested. Kirchert also claimed that it's easier to glance at information on this massive screen than at the conventionally "small" and low-placed navigation screens.
Not only does this curved display show the information typically placed on control panels like a speedometer and fuel gauge, but it also displays various communication features, exterior surroundings information like the temperature and a rear-view camera view, and driver and passenger biometrics like heart rates. Even the radio and general music control was moved to the dash display.
Byton noted, however, that the display will not support anything that could threaten driver safety such as movie streaming or various other types of distracting multimedia.
In addition to this gigantic display, drivers will have yet another touch screen at their fingertips right on the steering wheel. This 7-inch display, called the Driver Tablet, is what the driver uses to manage the Shared Experience screen.
Furthermore, center console was replaced with an 8-inch touch screen, the Byton Touchpad, which is just another way for the passenger to control the infotainment display.
As if these three touch screens weren't enough, of course Byton had to also consider the backseat passengers: secured to the back of each front seat are two seat-wide touch screens equipped with a camera and microphone for the ultimate entertainment experience for riders.
The interface will also be in part controlled by Amazon's Alexa as well as hand gestures, thanks to an infrared camera located on the dash.
Sales will start in China sometime in late 2019 with North American and European sales beginning in 2020. In 2021, a production model of the K-Byte sedan is expected to launch and in 2023, a third Byton model will make an appearance.
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