BYD kei EV leaked ahead of Japan Mobility Show – 20 kWh Blade battery, 180 km WLTP, debuts tomorrow

The car above may seem like your everyday humdrum kei car, but you’re looking at an unprecedented assault on the Japanese market by a foreign carmaker. We’ve known that BYD has been working on an EV to fit the island nation’s city car regulations for a while now, but the little tyke has now been leaked ahead of its debut at the Japan Mobility Show this week, as reported by Autohome.

Sporting space-saving sliding doors, the as-yet-unnamed model’s milquetoast design is entirely in keeping with the segment, with wheels pushed to the edges, an upright glasshouse and flat front, sides and rear to maximise space while keeping within the class’ size limits – a scant 3.4 metres long and 1.48 metres wide. Upswept D-pillars and pill-shaped head- and taillights provide the minimum of visual intrigue.

The Chinese carmaker is looking to capitalise on the locals’ reluctance to electrify their lineups. The kei EV market, hitherto consisting of only the Nissan Sakura and Mitsubishi eK X EV, has only recently been enlivened by the Honda N-One e:, which offers a WLTP-rated range of 295 km through its 29.6 kWh battery.

According to Autohome, the BYD will instead deliver a range of just 180 km through its 20 kWh Blade lithium iron phosphate (LFP) pack. But the company surely has much more up its sleeve, given its leading position in EV technology development and a likely desire to one-up the N-One e:.

As for outputs, while kei cars are currently limited to 64 PS, that’s due to a gentlemen’s agreement among members of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) to prevent a horsepower war. Since BYD is obviously not a member, it presumably won’t have to adhere to this limit.

This would be the first time a foreign carmaker is choosing to build a car specifically to meet kei car regulations. smart came close by fitting narrower rear fenders to the original fortwo to meet the width restriction, creating the smart K.

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