BYD teases Japan-only electric Kei car smaller and cheaper than Atto 1

BYD is targeting Japan’s fiercely competitive Kei segment with its smallest model yet — a Japan-only, fully electric city car to be unveiled at next week’s Tokyo Motor Show.

A teaser image shows a pint-sized EV designed for Japan’s Kei class, where cars must be under 3.4 metres long, 1.48 metres wide and 2.02 metres tall. Spy shots circulating in China suggest a tall, boxy profile with sliding side doors and the stubby proportions typical of the class.

The new model will sit below the BYD Atto 1 (sold overseas as the Seagull/Dolphin Mini), which is due in New Zealand later this year as one of the market’s cheapest new EVs.

According to Carscoops, the EV is expected to use a single electric motor and a 20kWh battery for about 180km of WLTP range, with DC fast-charging up to 100kW. Pricing is tipped to start around ¥2.5 million (about NZ$28,000), positioning it against the Mitsubishi eK X EV and just above Honda’s best-selling N-Box.

BYD says the car has been developed specifically for Japan, with no current plans to export it — a bold move into a segment dominated by Toyota, Suzuki, Daihatsu and Honda.