The cute little Kaiyi (pronounced,”Kah-e”) eVibe is a fully-electric city car which is slightly larger than the average ‘Kei car’ which makes it ideal for zipping through traffic while emitting zero CO2 into the environment! You have 300km of electric range at your disposal. Now isn’t that something for a 5-door hatchback coming to you at an interesting price point!
Exterior
You
are forgiven if you thought this looked like just another Japanese petrol-powered
car. Even I was mistaken as I mentioned earlier! It is hard to overlook the
fact that Chinese car manufacturers seem to be hitting the nail on the head
every single time. The exterior design is rather quirky but makes you want to
know more about it. The headlight and taillight styling is quite attractive
too. The eVibe does not come with alloy wheels, but it does come with really
nicely-styled wheel covers which makes one easily mistake them for actual alloy
wheels! Then you notice some simple yet practical touches like the hard plastic
found along the bottom of the car, right around. In the event you scratch the
bottom, you are not going to need an expensive paint job! Speaking of paint, this
car comes in 12 colours! 5 (light) factory painted colours; white, blue, pink,
silver, grey.. AND 7 more vibrant colours which you can select from. Of course
the factory painted cars are then repainted here in Sri Lanka.
I was quite impressed by the quality of the paint job on the car we tested (it was one of those vibrant coloured ones). It does cost you slightly more if you opt for one of these 7 colours though!
Interior
The first thing I noticed was the simplicity of the seats (both front and rear) wrapped in black/white leather (you can opt for fabric too) and of course the really cool AC which is a must in our tropical country. There’s also loads of space in the front as well as the rear, even when the front seats are pulled right back. However, there’s a little sacrifice in terms of boot space.
Rear
seats fold flat (in 2 pieces) allowing for a fully flat rear bed ideal for
carrying light loads. Also, there are mounts to fix child seats as well! It
does seem like 3 adult passengers in the rear seat would be a tight squeeze
(manageable for short journeys), but how often do you take 3 fully grown adults
in the rear, right?
The
dashboard is again a simple design and holds the center infotainment system
which is a touch screen; you control a lot of the cars’ features from here.
Mech & Tech
This
fully-electric city car delivers 110Nm of torque thanks to its 28KWh battery
and 40KW motor. As you could imagine, it’s a front-wheel drive car. The steering wheel is well-weighted and gives
you a confidence-inspiring feeling when taking the eVibe for a spin.
Most of the features and options of the car are controlled by the center touchscreen. I would have preferred the driving modes + lights at least to be controlled from the steering wheel, but hey, we are in 2026 and we should be open to new ways of doing things! It is however vital that you do not meddle with the touchscreen too much while driving for your own and other road users’ safety. This is why it is a must that you spend ample time familiarizing yourself with the car’s features and how they are operated via the touchscreen so you can set most features to your liking before you actually start driving.
The
appropriately-sized digital instrument cluster in front of me provided vital
information in addition to speed.
A 6-speaker sound system makes things nicer inside. I quite liked the sound quality... of course you need to do some adjustments through the sound settings to arrive at that. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto? Check!
The multi-function steering wheel let’s you control the volume, manage calls and also adjust the trip computer. USB type A and C ports up front flank a 12V power socket. It’s got a Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) system that also allows you to you power up your devices at home in case there’s a power outage. How cool is that!?
Driving Experience
Driving
the eVibe was nice. Sometimes I did not realize how fast I was going! There are
4 driving modes; Eco, Eco+, Normal and Sport. And there’s a stark difference
between the Eco+ and Sport modes of course. Sport was where I was mostly in,
and the front-wheel drive eVibe spun its wheels when accelerating a little
spiritedly around corners, however, during rush hour, Eco+ will be your best
friend. The eVibe also offers a few levels of Regenerative braking intensity so
you can adjust it how you like it. I must comment on the handling which was
also quite confidence-inspiring!
I cannot be blissfully ignorant about the turning circle which I assumed would be slightly better, but I cannot complain either, as the little Kaiyi is equipped with a smart camera system that makes navigating tight situations a breeze!
The comfort level in the cabin is augmented by the air conditioning that is impressive. In terms of suspension, the eVibe seemed to handle road imperfections well enough. It certainly passed our ‘rumble strip test’! Physical controls for AC / Climate Control was a welcoming feature too.
It was easy to get used to this new 5-door hatch from the get-go. The Chinese have really considered consumer pain-points when designing this car; this is something we consistently see across most Chinese-manufactured vehicles that are stealing our hearts.
Ground
clearance (~137mm) was not an issue on the roads we drove, however, you cannot
expect compact SUV standard clearance of course.
Safety and ADAS features
Two
airbags upfront, Surround camera and few other safety features like tire
pressure monitoring, ABS, ESC etc. It’s got some smart features like
auto-closing windows the moment you lock the car and walk away. What I was most
impressed about was the camera system which will make most of us ‘expert
drivers’ in tight situations. You see an arial view of the car as well as the
tire track when turning. So the camera system is not only useful when
reversing, but when negotiating tight situations too. Oh and it does not move
from ‘Park’ to ‘Drive’ when a door is left open. How do I know? I learned it
the hard way…
Fuel Efficiency
I
know, I know… it’s electric range only. The range is 300 kilometers quoted by
the manufacturer. Of course it is vital to note that your driving style will
really influence the maximum range you could cover per charge. This I feel is
more than sufficient to do your office runs within the city and other errands
throughout the week!
A little tip; Eco+ is possibly the best for maximum range. But for best driving pleasure, I’d recommend Sport mode!
Living with it
If
you have a family of 4 and want to switch to a 5-door hatchback which is also a
fully-electric city car, this can be one of the options in your shortlist.
Parking won’t be a problem, zipping through traffic also won’t be a problem and
lastly, you have zero fuel expenses! The only thing to keep in mind is, this
may not be the first option that comes to mind when you think ‘long distance
travel’. Charging infrastructure outstation is likely to be improved especially
considering the demand for ev charging stations increasing.
The fact that fast-charging (30-80%) can be done in 0.5 hours surely makes a difference. Normal charging means that you can get to a full charge in approximately the recommended hours of sleep you need for a day; 7 hours!
Hayleys Mobility will be providing a 3KW portable charger for you and also, at a slightly higher price; a 3KW on grid solar home charging system!
There’s also a key that has been designed after a Fidget-Spinner! Makes your day a little more ‘light-hearted’ every time you enter and exit the car I guess.
Price & Warranty
The
Kaiyi eVibe starts at Rs. 7,500,000 (at the time of testing) and Hayleys
Mobility, the authorized agent for the eVibe offers 3 years/100,000 kilometers
warranty for the car and 8 years/150,000 kilometers warranty for the battery.
Note that if your select a ‘vibrant’ colour, that will increase the total price to Rs.7.7 million. With the home solar charging system; Rs. 7.9 million. Hayleys Mobility is also well-equipped to handle all your aftersales requirements we were told.
I bet you have been waiting to know more about who manufactures the eVibe. Here’s a quick rundown; ‘Kaiyi Auto’ was originally launched (in 2014) as a wholly owned subsidiary of Chery Automobile. In December 2017 the company relocated to Yibin City, China and became Yibin Kaiyi Automobile Co., Ltd. with majority ownership by the Yibin municipal government (Interesting!) and a minority stake retained by Chery.
Final words
I
love, love, love the amount of cooling I experienced in the car. The
ride-comfort was also good. We did drive over multiple rumble strips and ‘not
so great’ roads and the eVibe held up quite well. For a car this size, I would
have preferred a slightly better turning radius or turning circle-for those of
you who are familiar with the latter.
The drive felt confidence-inspiring and I feel it would make things comfortable for any type of driver. Visibility was good, but the cameras makes anyone look like a pro when tackling tight situations! So you are rest assured that your eVibe won’t be captured and uploaded onto a page on Facebook for ‘erratic parking’ in the supermarket! Oh and yes, you don’t have to queue up at the fuel station IF things go ‘south’ like it recently did… Hoping and praying that we don’t see a repeat telecast of ‘that’! For a good vibe… eVibe!
