Former BMW Executives Look to Become EV Players

With the interest in electric vehicles growing rapidly in places such as China and Europe,  startup companies with a stake in EVs are fighting for recognition and a piece of the coming action.

One EV company preparing to show its new vehicle at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January is Byton, which hopes its blend of expertise from China, Germany and the U.S. will help it stand out in an increasingly crowded field when it launches its first vehicle in 2019.

Based in Nanjing, China, and launched with the help of capital raised in that country, Byton also has put down roots in Silicon Valley, where its technical center in Santa Clara, CA, employs more than 130 engineers and technical specialists, as well as in Munich where the company’s design center is staffed by former employees of German luxury automaker BMW.

Byton, which had quietly been growing for more than two years before breaking cover in September by unveiling its new name and logo in Shanghai, was created by two former BMW executives, Carsten Breitfeld and Daniel Kirchert, with long experience in product development, electric vehicles and the Chinese market.

Before joining Byton as CEO, Breitfeld had been in charge of engineering the BMW i8 EV and was considered one of the automaker’s leading experts on electric vehicles. 

Kirchert, an economist by training, says he has been fascinated by Chinese culture ever since his student days and has worked for BMW in China in marketing, sales, brand management and product strategy. He also was a student of China’s rapid economic development since the 1990s. Much of China’s dynamism has been driven by entrepreneurs and Byton is an effort to emulate their success, he says during an interview.

“As a startup we have to be focused,” Kirchert says. 

The company’s headquarters and manufacturing plant is located in China, which promises to become the world’s largest market for EVs. Chinese investors are supporting Byton, although the company would like to attract investors from other parts of the globe.

Byton’s first vehicle, an SUV scheduled for unveiling at CES, will be designed for a driver, as will the sedan and MPV that will  follow. But autonomous vehicles are very much on the minds of the company’s executives and engineers, who are concentrating on offering a unique experience to both the driver and passengers when the vehicle launches.

The company’s plans also call for ensuring every Byton vehicle is capable of being upgraded and changed to accommodate new technology in the future. Traditionally car designs and engineering have been locked in and hard to change for up seven years. Byton plans to change the traditional model.

“Money is a precious commodity in any startup,” says Breitfeld, adding the company is determined to learn from the mistakes of its rivals including Tesla, Faraday and Lucid.

Breitfeld says his experience in product development at BMW taught him the importance of solid engineering and the need to transfer it into a buildable production model. Fortunately the Chinese auto industry has evolved rapidly and is capable of building and exporting vehicles of distinction, he says.

Byton also is committed to innovations such as a tablet capable of controlling all of the vehicle's functions that sits in the middle of the steering wheel but actually can minimize driver distraction.

In addition, the Chinese-American-German startup has signed key suppliers such as Faurecia and Bosch to help with the development of the vehicle, giving the company added credibility, Breitfeld says.