From Vietnam to USA in 4 years, VinFast makes its debut there with 5 EVs

At the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Sony announced that it’s planning to enter the electric vehicle (EV) segment with the introduction of the Vision-S 02 SUV. Except that we’re not going to talk about that, obviously, as the main focus here is at Vietnamese automaker, VinFast’s booth.

The young Vietnamese carmaker, which was founded 4 years ago, brought out 5 EVs on stage and three of them made their debut at one of the world’s most well-known electronics fairs. These 3 new EVs are the VF5, VF6, and VF7.

The other two EVs that were shown were the VF8 and VF9 which are the new names given to the VF e35 and VF e36 respectively for the North American and European markets. At CES, VinFast announced that pre-orders for the two SUVs are now open for a fee of USD 200 (~RM 840).

Also read: Reverse invasion? Vietnam's homegrown brand VinFast to penetrate US with VF e35 and VF e36 EV SUVs

However, the Vietnamese carmaker has also announced prices for the D-segment VF8 will start from USD 41,000 (~RM 172k) while the E-segment VF9 will start from USD 56,000 (~RM 235k). Each model comes with a 10-year/200,000 km warranty, whichever comes first.

Also read: Surpassing Malaysia, Vietnam’s VinFast debuts its first EV with a 10-year warranty

There are three variants announced namely Eco, Plus, and Premium. No details on the powertrains were released but both the VF8 and VF9 are equipped with the latest in automotive tech with level 2+ autonomous driving system available as standard.

The top-of-the-range Premium variants claimed to feature levels 3-4 autonomous driving, making it one of the few road-legal cars to come with such high levels of automation.

Also read: Honda Legend's Sensing Elite - world's first road legal L3 autonomous driving car

Customers who reserved their VinFast between 5-January to 5-April 2022 will be rewarded an exclusive membership program called “VinFirst – Pioneer’s Gratitude to Pioneers”. These pioneers will receive e-vouchers worth up to USD 5,000 (~RM 21k), a free portable charger, free ADAS and Smart Services packages, as well as a free resort tour package at any of Vingroup’s 5-star Vinpearl hotels in Vietnam.

Just like the Vietnam-only (for now) VF e34, the larger VinFast SUVs’ pricing does not include batteries. Instead, batteries will be leased out to customers via two subscription plans – Flexible and Fixed.

Also read: Vietnam’s first EV – VinFast VF e34 goes on sale, RM 125k but batteries not included

Under the Flexible plan, customers would have to pay a subscription fee with a minimum range of 500 km/month with extra charges from the 501st km onwards. Meanwhile, the Fixed plan allows customers to pay for unlimited range. VinFast has yet to reveal prices for its battery leasing subscription but will cover all expenses on battery maintenance and replace used batteries for free.

Also read: Vietnam’s first EV, VinFast VF e34 delivered to first customers with RM 11k worth of freebies

Besides the VF8 and VF9, VinFast unveiled 3 smaller models that will be launched later, the VF5, VF6, and VF7. With that, VinFast is offering 5 different EV models that cater to the A- to E-segments, meaning there is an EV for everyone.

All 5 VinFast EVs, which also happen to be SUVs, are designed by world-renowned Italian design firms, Pininfarina and Torino Design which give these cars a bit of flair.

Also read: Now, nearly 30 percent of new cars sold in Malaysia are SUVs, up 6x from 2014

With the announcement of the 5 EVs, VinFast also makes plans to be fully committed to a sustainable future of mobility by announcing that it will stop producing vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICE) by the end of 2022.

Also read: VinFast forges partnerships to make Vietnam ASEAN’s EV hub

That’s a very ambitious plan coming from a young carmaker from a fast-emerging market in Southeast Asia. Vietnam isn’t even a hotbed for the automotive industry in the region with neighbours like Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia having more experience and higher production.

Also read: How many years before Vietnam overtakes Malaysia’s car industry? About 10

But at the rate that VinFast is going, it looks like Vietnam might not only be a major EV player in the ASEAN region but perhaps the world. So, watch out Tesla!

Also read: Vietnam’s VinFast sets their aim at Tesla; To build plant in USA