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’d be forgiven if you thought this looked like just another Japanese retro-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 black 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 car’s 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 lets you control the volume, manage calls and adjust the trip computer. USB type A and C ports up front plus a 12V power socket. It’s got a Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) system that also allows you to 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 while I assumed it 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 A/C 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 see consistently 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 aerial 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!
