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Aussies could get the chance to buy a new BYD EV for less than $20,000 after it was reported that the Chinese brand’s pint-sized Racco kei car will lend its battery and electronic tech to a new line-up of budget models.
Launched in July last year, the Racco is BYD’s first shot at the kei market in Japan, which features super-compact vehicles restricted to a maximum length of 3400mm, width of 1480mm and height of 2000mm. Now BYD wants to take the Racco’s X-Pack battery units and use them in a new model to be sold around the world, according to Nikkei Asia.
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The report says the X-Pack tech – which integrates important electrical components into the battery pack on the floor instead of placing them under the bonnet – will be used in upcoming vehicles destined for Europe’s M1E minicar market segment, which was introduced last year. The introduction of the segment means ultra-small EVs get a subsidy.
Australia isn’t going to get the Racco because it would need to be changed substantially to meet side-impact protection requirements down under. Suzuki’s Super-One EV, which is based on a kei car, had to adopt a bigger frame before it was cleared for local showrooms.
If the new Racco-based model makes it to Oz, it would likely be priced under the marque’s cheapest Australian offering, the Atto 1 Essential, which goes for $23,990 before on-road costs. That would put it in a battle with the Kia Picanto for the title of the country’s cheapest new EV.
The front-wheel drive Racco is actually bigger than the Atto 1, coming in at 3395mm long and 1475mm wide. Its outputs of 47kW and 160Nm meet the Japanese restrictions on kei cars, and it comes with electric sliding doors, heated seats and the ability to send electricity to external devices using vehicle-to-load tech.
That X-Pack battery can be DC-charged at 100kW for a 10-80 per cent battery refill time of approximately 20 minutes, and the 36kWh lithium-iron-phosphate pack gives it a claimed WLTP range of around 320km.
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