Vietnamese automaker VinFast has finally launched its first electric vehicle, the VF 8 electric SUV, here in the North American market.
After some delays, 45 units were delivered to customers in California across nine dealerships within the state. This is significantly lower than VinFast’s initial goal of having 21 more showrooms in California before the end of 2022. The company still hopes to eventually produce as many as 150,000 vehicles per year from its production plant in North Carolina, which is expected to start operating in 2024.
Originally, the VF 8 City Edition Eco had a max range of 179 miles, but a software update has boosted that number to 207 miles. VinFast still needs to catch up to other EV makers with ranges of 300+ miles, though, like the Lucid Air with a claimed 410-mile range or the Mercedes VISION EQXX that managed to go over 600 miles in one charge.
But the VF 8 City Edition Eco still isn’t anything to sneeze at. It comes with a dual-motor all-wheel drive system that puts out 340 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque, and it can go from 0-62 mph in 6.5 seconds. The City Edition Plus boosts those numbers to 402 hp and 457 lb-ft – which does drop the range to 191 miles but makes up for it by slicing that 0-62 mph time down to 5.5 seconds.
VinFast has tweaked the pricing for the VF 8, bringing the cost of the City Edition Eco to $399 per month and the City Edition Plus to $513 per month, both with a down payment of over $5,000.
Gareth Dunsmore, VinFast Deputy CEO, Global Sales & Marketing shared his excitement over finally breaking into the North American market: “The event drew tremendous attention from our U.S. consumers. It’s extremely gratifying in fulfilling our delivery promise and to witness the excitement our customers have for the VinFast brand. This is a great moment for all of us and more motivation to continuously strive to exceed the expectations of our valued customers.”
SOURCE | IMAGES: CARSCOOPS
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