BYD Racco Kei EV Tops 1,000 Orders in 2 Weeks in Japan
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- BYD Racco surpassed 1,000 cumulative orders in its first two weeks on sale in Japan after launching July 28, the fastest pace for any BYD model to date.
- About 80% of early buyers chose the Racco 300 Premium trim, 14% picked the Plus, and 6% opted for the base 200 model.
- The Racco starts at ¥2,145,000 (~$13,000), but a ¥150,000 (~$900) government subsidy drops the effective price to ¥1,995,000 (~$12,200) — undercutting the Nissan Sakura EV, which starts at ¥2,448,600.
- The base Racco 200 uses a 22.4 kWh LFP battery with 210 km of WLTC range, while the 300 Plus and Premium trims use a 35.84 kWh battery with up to 320 km — the first kei EV in Japan to exceed 300 km.
- 37.5% of buyers added the Racco as a second car, 35.7% replaced an existing vehicle, and 26.8% bought it as their first car, with 55.4% already owning home EV charging.
- BYD targets 10,000 cumulative Racco orders by the end of 2026, entering a kei segment long dominated by Nissan, Honda, Toyota, and Suzuki.
Why it matters: With 1,000 orders in two weeks against a 10,000-unit year-end 2026 target, BYD is on pace to become the first foreign brand to scale in Japan's kei market. The Racco undercuts Japan's top-selling EV (Nissan Sakura) on price while offering longer range, giving domestic incumbents a concrete new competitor in the smallest, most domestically guarded car segment.
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