CARB OKs Kandi

The Fiat 500 is one of the smaller cars that you’re likely to drive.* It is just 144.4 inches long, 64.1 inches wide, and 59.8 inches high. In effect, you’re nearly wearing it.

That car came to mind when seeing the announcement from Kandi America that its K27 electric vehicle (EV) has been certified by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for emissions.

The K27 is a seemingly tall, boxy-looking four-door.

The Kandi K27. An economical EV. (Image: Kandi)

The company describes it as having “ample interior space that can comfortably accommodate up to four passengers, making it an ideal automobile for urban driving.”

So while we don’t have interior dimensions to substantiate that “ample” claim, here are the exterior dimensions:

• Length: 136.22 inches
• Width: 57.87 inches
• Height: 63.58 inches

Go back and look at those Fiat 500 numbers. Unless you have a penchant for stovepipe hats, the K27 is even smaller than the Fiat 500 by a non-trivial amount. The 500 almost seems bulky by comparison.

California cruising

If you’re in California, you can drive K27 rather economically:

The state has a $2,000 credit. There is a $7,500 federal tax credit. And with “special promotional pricing,” the Kandi K27 can be driven off for $7,999.

Incidentally: Once you drive off you won’t get too far.

It has an estimated range of 59 miles from its 17.69 kWh battery.

And you won’t go too fast.

It has a top speed of 68 mph.

Among the features of the K27 are a backup camera, Bluetooth compatibility and a touch screen, or what the people at Kandi describe as “everything the modern driver needs.”

One thing that can be said for it: it is light on the wallet.

Consider: according to Kelley Blue Book, the average transaction price for a vehicle in September was $38,723. For that money, you could buy four K27s in California and have money left over for recharging.

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*The Fiat 500 known in the U.S. has gone out of production. While there is a New 500 recently introduced in Italy—an electric vehicle, by the way—it isn’t coming to the U.S. market.