Founded in 2007, Gear Patrol is the definitive buying guide for enthusiasts. Our independent experts test the best in cars, tech, home, outdoors, style and watches. We combine hands-on testing, decades of experience and original photography to craft reports, reviews and guides. But the reviews we’ve read have been perhaps the most brutal we’ve seen for a modern car. Motortrend called the VF8 “nowhere near ready for public consumption.” Inside EVs described riding in the VF8 as “unbearable.” These are not exactly promising signs.
Reuters reported VinFast sold only 7,400 cars last year—all in Vietnam—but has projected sales between 40,000 and 50,000 cars this year as it expands beyond the country’s borders. VinFast’s VF8 electric SUV is the only car currently for sale in the United States, and only at 13 showrooms in California, but the company is planning to start offering its larger SUV later this year and two others next year, CNN reported. By comparison, Tesla delivered 1.3 million cars in 2022 and Toyota sold 10.5 million.
Next to rivals, the VF 9 can’t hope to compete in the performance or range stakes, but how does it compare on price? The Tesla Model X comes in at $79,900, which is more expensive than both models. However, it has an EPA-estimated range of 335 miles and can reach 60 mph in 3.8 seconds. With the $7,500 Federal Tax Credit, the price comes down to $72,490. Previously priced at $91,000, the VF 9 legacyfx forex broker review Plus now retails for $73,800. Both variants receive a 123 kWh battery that powers two electric motors.
What is VinFast? Here’s Everything You Need to Know
However, VinFast does not appear to be selling many vehicles so far. The company recently revealed that 7,100 of its 11,300 global sales in the first half of 2023 were to Green and Smart Mobility, a Vietnamese taxi firm controlled by Vingroup. 2) Certain Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and smart service technology features may be subject to delayed availability and be made available as part of a future software update to your vehicle and may be subject to subscription. VinFast built a highly automated plant and churned out 3 different models in only 21 months.
In May, VinFast recalled all of the cars it had shipped to the U.S. over a screen failure that saw the display go blank. Strangely, VinFast plans to release two different battery sizes in both its Plus and Eco variants. I say « strangely » because the separate https://forexanalytics.info/ ranges and prices aren’t well differentiated. For the base Eco Battery Version 1, the company is targeting 260 miles on Europe’s more-lenient WLTP test cycle at a cost of $40,700 (plus a yet-to-be determined destination fee).
My drive is limited to quick acceleration blasts up and down a road between factory buildings, with a U-turn on one end and a keyhole loop return on the other. Signage suggests our tests are to be capped at 80 kph (50 mph), but the engineer sitting in my passenger seat allows me to go far more quickly, touching 100 mph before braking hard into the left-handed keyhole. Being an EV, acceleration is predictably smooth, but with the 19-inch Goodyear Eagle Touring tires under load in the final turn, the steering’s power assistance has brief moments where it feels oddly nonlinear. Given VinFast’s damn-the-torpedoes corporate pace, it should come as no surprise that the two VF 8 prototypes I’m testing are decidedly unfinished. In fact, they’re not even operating on the same development software versions, and many of the vehicles’ software functions… Combine that with a makeshift drive loop that’s perhaps a couple of kilometers long, and it’s all but impossible to draw concrete conclusions about whether or not this EV belongs on your shopping list.
Schedule Test Drive
Thanks to a wildly fluctuating stock price, you may have seen the name VinFast in the news lately. In case you wondered just what it is — and whether Dom Toretto is involved — here’s everything you need to know. 5) Vehicle may show optional accessories that are not included in base vehicle and that are subject to availability. According to regulatory filings, Pham Nhat Vuong, the company’s founder and Vietnam’s wealthiest man, controls roughly 99 percent of VinFast, partly through shares held by his wife and Vingroup JSC. In other words, the vast majority of shares aren’t available to investors, with the biggest winner from the recent stock surge being the firm’s founder. VinFast promises a full range of connected services, including e-commerce functions and gaming.
How Does The VF 9 Compare To Its Rivals?
VinFast says it has shipped 3,000 vehicles to North America. Initial plans called for Tesla-like direct-to-consumer sales, but VinFast is open to working with dealerships. « Polestar has already established itself as one of the most desirable and innovative brands in the electric vehicle space, » Lohscheller said in a statement.
Monday, just two weeks after its debut on the Nasdaq Global Select Market with a share price of $10 and a valuation of $23 billion following a merger with Black Spade Acquisition Co. in a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal. Images and videos shown contain pre-production level vehicles. VinFast, the innovative new electric car company, prioritizes premium craftsmanship and high-quality parts in crafting its EVs. Engineered for safety, reliability, and comfort on every journey. The VF 8’s exterior is contemporary, with standard LED illumination and a V-shaped grille with integrated daytime running lamps that echo the brand’s logo.
VinFast started in 2017, and just 21 months later, it had three different passenger cars in production in a massive, fully modern factory complex in Haiphong, about two hours east of Hanoi. Those first models were admittedly based heavily on tech purchased from other automakers like BMW, but even so, the accomplishment can’t be overstated. In fact, the young automaker even expects to deliver the first units of its larger sibling, the handsome three-row VF 9 EV, before 2023.
Toyota Land Cruiser: Everything You Need to Know
An early VF8 city edition achieved around 200 miles of range with less sophisticated battery tech. VinFast has slashed pricing for the larger VF 9 electric vehicle. First reported by Car And Driver, the three-row SUV now has a heavily discounted MSRP – more than $10,000 off the original price.
- According to an SEC filing, his Vingroup controls 1.2 billion shares in VinFast, more than 50 percent of outstanding shares.
- In profile, the VF 8 looks rather nondescript — its most interesting details are the tapered indentation along the door bottoms and a raked rear window.
- Cash due at signing includes $299 first month’s payment, $695 acquisition fee, $999 down payment and $0 security deposit.
- It has since plummeted below $20, about where it was before the rally started.
- Strangely, VinFast plans to release two different battery sizes in both its Plus and Eco variants.
- It has a starting price of $75,900 (for the Adventure Dual Standard) which delivers 270 miles and 533 hp.
Roeloffs was included on Editor & Publisher Magazine’s “25 Under 30” list in 2023 and worked covering local news in the greater Boston area from 2017 to 2023. She graduated with a double major in political science and journalism from Northeastern University. Follow Roeloffs for continued coverage of streaming wars, pop culture news and trending topics.
The Southeast Asian carmaker debuted on the Nasdaq stock market on August 15 with the trading symbols “VFS” and “VFSWW” after completing a SPAC merger with Black Spade Acquisition Company. A day later, VinFast’s shares closed at $37.06 in New York. However, as Reuters notes, the small amount of publicly available shares (1.3 million) has made VinFast’s stock prone to volatility, with the price going up and down more than 14 percent in 11 of the past 12 trading sessions. Nothing if not ambitious, VinFast plans to have models in US customers’ hands by year’s end. While VinFast has yet to disclose exactly how large the Samsung-celled packs are in the Battery Version 1 models, the larger packs are 90 kilowatt-hours. On a DC fast charger, Version 1 models can go from 10% to 70% full in 24 minutes, while vehicles with the larger packs take 31 minutes.
The math is complicated, but for now, you should know that even if gas prices come down substantially, the value equation looks promising (if obscure). At 187 inches long, 74.8 inches wide and 65.4 inches tall, the VF 8 is the same length as a and only around an inch separates their width and height. Interestingly, chief engineer Huy Chieu tells me that in developing the VF 8’s driving performance, the company recently benchmarked Hyundai’s excellent , a great bogey. Like many of his fellow executives, Chieu joined VinFast recently after decades in the business at established automakers (Chieu worked at General Motors from the late 1990s).
