Do you know how you know that BYD means business? It has just started selling its first kei car in Japan. A bold move – like coal and Newcastle and that.
Will the Japanese react well to a usurper brand coming in and stealing its treasured national car format, or will buyers flock to the new car and ditch their domestic heroes?
At any rate, the new car is called the BYD Racco, and like all cars that are built to the restrictive national kei guidelines (intended to keep cars teeny in packed urban environments) it’s tall, narrow and a lot of thought has gone into the packaging. There's talk about bringing a similar format to Europe, although it'll look different.
BYD says that it has used all of its experience in making its own Blade batteries and all of the associated electronic gubbins to create a battery for the Racco that’s incredibly compact and frees up space to focus on the crash safety and internal packaging. Some of those Japanese carmakers are already quaking in their tyres.
Inside there are four seats and an impressive 280 litres of boot space that expands to 1,372 litres with the seats down. BYD says you can even fit in a bike or golf bags in the car, though presumably both scenarios are with the back seats folded flat.
The standard fit power operated sliding doors are a fun touch, as is the top trim model that will shine a light on the floor that opens up the door when you step on it. No weird kicking moves required.
BYD says it hasn’t just put storage in the Racco, but thought about everything – there’s a little slot for your phone, a cupholder big enough for your insulated coffee cup and even somewhere to put your wet umbrella out of the way. This car might be useful for the UK…
The interior has been designed to be inclusive too – BYD says the steering wheel is intended to fit the hand size of an average Japanese woman.
There are three models to choose from – the £9,600 (2.1 million yen) 200 model that has a 22.4kWh battery for 130 miles of range, the £11,000 (2.4 million yen) 300 Plus that comes with a 35.8kWh battery for 199 miles of range and the range topping £11,500 (2.5 million yen) 300 Premium model.
The Racco is already open for order in Japan, and there’s next to no chance of it coming to the UK, but there’s a very healthy import scene if you wanted to get one on the next boat. Or we'll have to make do with the Honda Super-N.
