Electric vehicle startup Byton said it had completed its cold environment test of M-Byte prototypes in inner Mongolia in northern China.

Since mid-2018 Byton has been testing around 100 prototypes on test tracks and in road traffic in the US and China.

During cold-weather testing, engineers drove several thousands of miles on open roads and specially prepared test tracks at temperatures of down to -30°C (-4°F to -22°F). This phase focused on batteries, battery management and drive electronics to ensure reliable operation and achieve an appropriate range. Components such as the chassis, running gear and heating system also had to stand up to continuous operation.

Meanwhile, at company headquarters in Nanjing, China, work is proceeding to complete the intelligent production facilities which are built around Industry 4.0 standards. Every hall has been constructed and are now being equipped with machinery. Work on equipping the press and paint shops is almost complete.

Pre-series production is scheduled to start in summer 2019. The first production cars will be delivered at the end of 2019 in China, in the second half of 2020 in the US and at the end of 2020 in Europe.