Did you know that there’s an electric vehicle company out there that’s being calling “the anti-Tesla?” All I can picture is a hulking tank of a car with a battery pack strapped to the back, facing off against a sleek and beautiful Model S. But that’s not what this is.
The anti-Tesla is also sleek and beautiful, so look at this more like one supermodel calling another supermodel narcissistic.
Anyway, the anti-Tesla is a Chinese backed startup called Byton who unveiled its first driveable prototype at CES in January. Set to launch next year, the crossover model boasts a screen for a dashboard and will be built at a factory in Nanjing, China.
The company founders have stressed that they want the product to speak for itself and not promise the customers the moon, while staying focused on using an existing supply base so as not to get bogged down trying to reinvent the wheel during manufacturing – which doesn’t sound like Tesla at all…
We heard from the self-described “down to earth” Byton again this week, this time to announce that they’re working on a second product – a sedan that they’ve teased with artsy photos showing non-descript parts of the vehicle bathed in neon light. Jalopnik has pointed out just how Tesla-like it is to announce a new product before actually releasing its first offering, but we’ll cut them a little slack. As we learned with the likes of Faraday Future, an electric car company with no cars yet is really no more than an expensive idea.
And while Elon Musk may be in “manufacturing hell,” he’s manufacturing nonetheless.
