What was originally meant for the Japanese kei car market is about to go global. That’s right, the BYD Racco, the brand’s all-electric kei car, will reportedly enter other markets besides Japan.

According to a report by Chinese tech outlet IT Home, BYD reportedly made the announcement about the Racco becoming available in other countries at a dealership in Hiratsuka City, located in Kanagawa Prefecture. Due to its popularity in Japan (which has already exceeded 2,000 orders since two months ago), BYD representatives shared that the automaker is currently evaluating the demand for the Racco outside of Japan.

But which key markets is BYD thinking of bringing the Racco to exactly? Based on additional info, BYD is apparently prioritizing expansion into right-hand drive (RHD) markets. After all, the BYD Racco was initially made for the Japanese market, which is an RHD country.

For now, BYD has announced that Sri Lanka and Macau are next to get the all-new Racco EV kei car. In fact, reservations are now open in Macau, while Sri Lanka is set to launch the BYD Racco on October 9. Other markets that could potentially get the BYD Racco include Hong Kong and the United Kingdom (UK), which are currently popular for the brand.

As mentioned before, the BYD Racco comes with a small electric motor that’s powered by either a 22.4 kWh battery or a bigger 35.84 kWh battery. The former gives the Racco a range of up to 210 km, while the latter delivers up to 320 km of range, both based on the WLTC standard. The motor, meanwhile, makes 64 PS with 160 Nm of torque and drives the front wheels.

Recharging the Racco can be done in two ways: a standard 3.3 kW wallbox charger or a more powerful 6.6 kW AC charger. It even comes with a vehicle-to-load (V2L) function that can power devices or appliances with up to 1,500W of power.

Size-wise, the Racco measures 3395mm long, 1475mm wide, and 1800mm tall on a 2520mm wheelbase. Despite its small footprint, the Racco comes with big car features, such as electric sliding rear doors, an insulated cupholder to keep hot drinks warm, a folding tray table that can hold food & drinks, pocket sleeves to hold tablets, laptops, or phones, and hidden gloveboxes to store smaller items with ease.

With left-hand drive (LHD) markets not being a priority right now for the BYD Racco, it seems we can only admire BYD's electric kei car from afar for now. But should demand for the boxy electric kei car grow more in other markets, we can perhaps hope BYD changes its mind.

Source: CarNewsChina via IT Home