plans to deliver 100 all-electric passenger cars to Laos in the first quarter of 2022.

(Image credit: BYD)

BYD announced Tuesday that it delivered the first Han EV to the Lao Prime Minister's Office in Vientiane, Laos, on December 27, marking the Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) maker's latest effort in the international market.

Launched in July last year, the BYD Han includes the Han EV, an all-electric version with an NEDC range of 605 kilometers, and the Han DM, a hybrid model with a range of only 81 kilometers on pure electric power.

The 150,000th vehicle of the BYD Han family rolled off the production line at the company's global headquarters in Shenzhen on December 23, 17 months after the model's launch.

The Han EV accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.9 seconds, an acceleration experience comparable to that of a supercar, and will bring a new business car driving experience to Laos, BYD said.

"The Lao government will vigorously support the development of pure electric vehicles in the future with positive policies introduced in the future. We hope there would be more cooperation with China in the development of new energy vehicles in the future", said Khamjane Vongphosy, the Minister to the Prime Minister's Office of the Lao PDR.

In 2020, former Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith visited BYD Xi'an Industrial campus, hoping to introduce more BYD NEVs to Laos.

In October last year, the Lao government announced that all-electric vehicles will be prioritized for the procurement of government cars.

In May last year, Electricité du Laos, the electricity company of Laos, procured the first batch of electric vehicles to be put into operation in Vientiane as the group's official vehicles, including BYD e2 pure electric vehicles.

In July, the first batch of 28 BYD electric vehicles for the Vientiane Saysettha Low-Carbon Demonstration Zone, a climate change-relevant South-South Cooperation project between China and Laos, was shipped, including 12 C8 electric buses, 8 T5Ds and 8 Yuan EVs.

In September, BYD and LOCA, the largest ride-hailing platform in Laos, signed a strategic cooperation agreement.

BYD plans to deliver 100 pure electric passenger cars to Laos in the first quarter of 2022.