BYD Co., China’s top electric vehicle (EV) maker, will start to sell a new model of midsize electric bus in Japan to meet the growing demand for green public transportation in the country.

The J7 midsize electric bus, tailored for the Japanese market, has a range of 250 km and is priced at 36.5 million Japanese yen (US$240,000), according to a press conference of BYD Japan Co. on Tuesday.

The model is set to begin accepting reservations starting from Jan. 1, 2024, with deliveries expected in the fall of 2025.

The Shenzhen-based automaker made its entry into the Japanese electric bus market in 2015 by delivering five electric buses in Kyoto. Currently, BYD , an acronym which stands for Build Your Dreams, holds a share of more than 70% in the Japanese electric bus market and aims to achieve cumulative sales of 4,000 buses in the country by 2030.

“BYD is committed to promoting the electrification of transportation in collaboration with Japanese partners through the introduction of new technologies and products,” said Liu Xueliang, general manager of BYD Asia-Pacific Auto Sales Division and president of BYD Japan.

Despite boasting a mature auto market, Japan has lagged behind its global peers in the shift toward EVs as petrol and hybrid models are much more popular than battery electric vehicle (BEVs).

With the global decarbonization trend, Japan has aimed to have all vehicles sold in the country be at least part-electric by 2035, along with increasing subsidies for EV purchases and reduced restrictions on the installation of charging facilities.

BYD was the world’s biggest seller of BEVs and plug-in hybrids in 2022 with a total of 1.86 million vehicles，most of those in China and well ahead of Tesla with 1.3 million. (SD-Xinhua)