BYD teases more info on its smallest upcoming EV with 20 kWh battery

Last year, Chinese car giant BYD surprised many with details of a small hatchback model that was spotted testing in China and was destined to compete in Japan’s unique Kei car market, before being unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show as the upcoming 2026 BYD Racco, which translates from Japanese to BYD “Sea Otter”.

Now, more details have come to light on the 20 kWh battery pack-equipped Racco, which was shared by BYD Japan on X.

In the post, the brand once again teased the upcoming model, along with directing prospective buyers to its own website with more details on this very unique electric model.

BYDの大きな夢が、いよいよ”軽”で走り出す。🦦
2026年夏の発売に向けて、「BYD RACCO」の特設サイトがオープンしました！🎉

「なぜ、日本で軽なのか？」
「なぜラッコなのか？」

開発ディレクターのインタビューも掲載された特設サイトは必見です。👉https://t.co/Tf3JorTiLc#BYD #BYDRACCO… pic.twitter.com/mDYHndbpN7

— BYD JAPAN（ビーワイディージャパン） (@byd_japan) February 16, 2026

According to the brand, it is really amping up the focus on smaller EVs for the Japanese market to begin with. 

It says on the Racco website: “Daily shopping, commuting, picking up and dropping off children, and even on holidays. Cleaner. Smarter. More environmentally friendly. The future isn’t just about big cars. A “small EV revolution” begins.”

Along with that, some key design aspects of the car are also shared: “Our goal was to “provide the best minicar in the EV category to everyone.” To achieve this, the first thing we did was to develop an EV-exclusive Super Tall x Sliding Door package.”

The ease of getting in and out is important in smaller Kei cars, so the sliding door will be a unique addition that will convince buyers in that segment to test drive the Racco.

Image: BYD Japan

Last month, at a car show in Tokyo, a slide at the BYD stand revealed that the Racco will come equipped with two battery packs, with the smaller 20 kWh pack delivering around 200 km of range, and a larger 30 kWh battery pack delivering around 300 km of range.

That’s plenty of range for most city drives, and the car is expected to have both AC and DC charging capabilities for when it comes to top-ups. Earlier reports hinted at DC charging speeds of up to 100 kW on these small battery packs, but that is likely to be confirmed when full specs are released in the coming months.

The Racco takes many of its features from other BYD products but also brings in some unique styling cues not seen in the rest of the lineup.

Designed like other smaller Kei Car models in the Japanese markets, it has a boxier front and rear sections, coming in just short of 3.4 metres in length, 1.48 metres wide and 1.8 metres in height.

Image: BYD Japan

Given that many of the Kei car models in Japan are powered by an engine with up to 660 cc of capacity, an electric offering by BYD could really help put BYD on Japanese consumers’ shortlist in the years to come, as the brand looks at aggressive expansion plans in what appears to be one of the toughest markets globally for foreign brands.

Detailed specifications and pricing will be announced in the coming months, marking BYD’s first major step toward models designed and engineered for specific global markets.