BYD started selling the Racco in Japan on 28 July. It is a kei car — built to the category’s dimensional limits — sold in three versions with two LFP packs, and it is the first time a Chinese manufacturer has designed a car to Japanese domestic rules rather than adapting an export model to them.
Affected#
Nobody here. There is no kei category in Europe or Morocco, the car is 1,475 mm wide, and BYD has not suggested it will be sold outside Japan.
It is worth noting for one reason: the Racco is BYD engineering a car for a single foreign market’s regulations, rather than shipping what it already builds. If that approach works in the hardest market to enter, it is the approach that eventually shows up elsewhere.
Confirmed#
| On sale | 28 July 2026, pre-orders from 21 July |
| Output, all versions | 47 kW (64 PS) and 160 Nm |
| Racco 200 | 22.4 kWh LFP, 210 km WLTC, 2,145,000 yen |
| Racco 300 Plus | 35.84 kWh LFP, 320 km WLTC, 2,398,000 yen |
| Racco 300 Premium | 35.84 kWh LFP, 320 km WLTC, 2,497,000 yen |
| National subsidy | 150,000 yen, giving 1,995,000 yen at the bottom |
| AC charging | 3 kW (22.4 kWh) or 6 kW (35.84 kWh) |
| DC charging | CHAdeMO, about 36 kW or 50 kW |
| Size | 3,395 × 1,475 × 1,800 mm, 2,520 mm wheelbase |
Both packs are lithium iron phosphate, in a cell-to-body structure — the chemistry covered in Blade Battery and LFP.
On demand: BYD Japan reported 1,002 orders as of 9 August, against its own stated target of 1,000 in the first two weeks, and is aiming for 10,000 orders by the end of 2026. July registrations were 125, mostly dealer demonstrators.
Unconfirmed#
- BYD’s two “first” claims. BYD says the Racco is the first kei car designed by an overseas automaker, and calls it the world’s first software-defined kei EV. Both are BYD’s claims about its own product, in a category with a long history; neither is independently established, and the second depends entirely on what counts as software-defined.
- Order figures. One outlet reported more than 5,000 orders in the first week, which contradicts BYD Japan’s own 1,002 in two weeks. We use the lower, attributed figure. Launch-week order counts are marketing metrics everywhere and are not audited.
- Delivery timing. No first-delivery date has been published, and 125 July registrations are dealer cars rather than customer ones.
- Whether it sells. Kei buyers are the most brand-loyal segment in Japan, and 10,000 orders is BYD’s aspiration, not a forecast anyone else has made.