BYTON M-Byte

Why would companies that manufacture phones, like Sony or Apple, want to get into the electric vehicle business? A better question to ask is, “why wouldn’t they?” While electric vehicles have only just begun to corner a small portion of the automobile market, the upside of prospective growth is tremendous. As vehicles become more reliant on batteries, wiring, and programming in lieu of combustion engines, companies like Sony and Apple feel they have enough knowledge and expertise to take a crack at an electric vehicle of their own.

The downturn in the economy due to the pandemic is wreaking havoc with the auto industry. The impacts are particularly hard on start-ups trying to launch their first vehicles. Byton, the Chinese EV-maker, this week put hundreds of employees from its Santa Clara facility on furlough, following earlier reductions in China.

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Byton plans to launch the European M-Byte EV initially in Switzerland, Germany, Norway, France, Netherlands, and Sweden. Pre-ordering in Europe starts in the second half of 2020 for €500.
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