VinFast, the first domestic car manufacturer from Vietnam, has kicked off its global expansion by opening offices in both North America and Europe.

The automaker’s models began to hit the streets of Vietnam in 2019 and the company is racing towards an entrance into the U.S. market.

“VinFast has set up representative offices in five international markets and will soon open showrooms in California,” company owner Vingroup said in a statement to Reuters. “VinFast USA’s CEO has already relocated to the U.S. from Vietnam recently.”

VinFast was planning to sell 56,000 electric vehicles in 2022 but due to the semiconductor shortage, has scaled back that target to 15,000 vehicles.

The Vietnamese automaker will launch in North America and Europe in 2022, chief executive Nguyen Thi Van Anh told Reuters earlier in the year: “We are going to North America – U.S., Canada – and Europe at the same time. In Europe, we’re going to Germany, France and the Netherlands.”

VinFast will launch with a battery leasing scheme, meaning the cost of the battery will not be included in the final price. Customers will instead pay a monthly amount for the battery that is roughly equivalent of what an average consumer might spend on petrol. When the capacity of the battery drops to 70 per cent, the company will replace it free of charge. VinFast will also conduct most of its U.S. sales online.

In a bid to raise money for its expansion, VinFast is said to be considering an initial public offering in the United States or may merge with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company.

This automaker was true to its word. Vietnamese carmaker VinFast has officially opened an office in North America along with Europe ahead of beginning sales in both markets. We've known about VinFast, Vietnam's first domestic automaker, for a few years now as well as its intentions to expand beyond its home country. While things don't always go as planned in this industry, VinFast has remained steadfast.

"VinFast has set up representative offices in five international markets and will soon open showrooms in California" the company said. Its US CEO, Van Anh, has already relocated to Los Angeles.

Plans are now entering the advanced stages for its mostly online-only sales network. The lack of official dealerships will help to drastically lower costs for both the company and customers. We do expect there will be service centers, however.

The current plan is to only sell electric vehicles in both markets. The VF e35 and VF e36 are expected to launch next March. We don't expect for the Pininfarina-styled, GM V8-powered President SUV to be sold outside of Vietnam.

Chances are few would buy it here because it's a rebadged BMW X5. VinFast is also currently seeking additional cash. One way to do so is an IPO or possibly a SPAC merger. Nothing has been decided just yet but Reuters claims it's received inside information the company aims to raise around $2 billion.

We'll learn more details in the coming months, but one thing is already certain: VinFast doesn't take criticism well. A couple of months ago in Vietnam, the automaker reported a YouTuber to local police claiming the individual was making false claims about the Lux A2.0 sedan, specifically accusing him of uploading "untrue content" that affected its reputation. The guy removed the content after receiving a threatening letter from VinFast's legal team but was still summoned for questioning by authorities.

We don't know what aspects of the vehicle he was complaining about, but here in America we review new vehicles and give our opinions. The police are never involved. VinFast needs to understand this very clearly.

VinFast is slated to unveil three electric vehicles at CES, but the company will be doing so without the help of Michael Lohscheller, who is leaving the automaker for “personal reasons.”

The move is surprising as Lohscheller was appointed CEO in July and was tasked with turning VinFast into a “global smart electric car company.”

Lohscheller has extensive experience in the automotive industry as he was an executive vice president at Volkswagen Group of America, before becoming CEO of Opel. His next move remains unclear, but he released a statement saying it was an “honor to serve VinFast and its people.” He went on to wish the company “all the best” in the future and add they’re on their way to becoming a “successful global electric [vehicle] brand.”

Lohscheller will be replaced by VinFast Vice Chair Le Thi Thu Thuy, who will also be retaining her old title. The company said she will be “in charge of overseeing VinFast’s business activities in its current markets” as well as “lead market survey activities and expansions into other potential markets globally.”

Thuy said she is “thrilled” to become CEO and will help steer “VinFast towards success in the international market and winning the heart of global consumers.” She went on to extend her gratitude to Lohscheller and wish him the best of luck in the future.

It remains unclear if the executive shakeup will result in any changes to the company’s plans, but VinFast is slated to introduce A, B and C segment electric vehicles next month. Little is known about them, but they’ll slot beneath the e35 and e36.

Vietnam’s VinFast is in the middle of its North American expansion and with the new brand, Canadians will be introduced to a new sales scheme. The EV manufacturer plans to separate the cost of its vehicle and the cost of that vehicle’s battery, a strategy it believes will have a few advantages.



The company is currently in conversation with the local government to encourage it to expand federal tax incentives on EVs but also plans to lease the battery to customers in order to reduce the apparent base price of the vehicle, reports Automotive News Canada.

Although customers will have to pay a monthly fee for the battery, it will make the price of the vehicle look more like the price of a combustion vehicle. The lease bill will be roughly the same size as the gas bill that consumers with old-school vehicles have to pay anyway.

“VinFast did collect both qualitative and quantitative market feedback regarding battery subscription,” VinFast Canada CEO Huynh Du An told ANC. “Key findings included that a lower price of entry was intriguing to consumers, and they appreciated support plans the subscription provides.”

That’s not just a clever way to market EV pricing, though, as leasing does come with other advantages. Under the plan, VinFast will replace batteries free of charge once capacity slips below 70 percent of what they were originally advertised as. Geotab reports that lithium-ion batteries in EVs lose about 2.3 percent of their total charging ability per year, though battery degradation isn’t linear (which complicates things a bit), so the battery should last more than ten years before VinFast has to replace it.

Replacing it, the company said, will have benefits for first owners, by increasing the resale value, for second owners, by giving used cars more life, and for the planet, since the company will recycle the batteries when they’re replaced.

That could also have benefits for VinFast because used batteries are a treasure trove of precious materials on the recycling market. By retaining control over the battery packs, the automaker is likelier to be able to retain the batteries and those packs are unlikely to go wasted in vehicles that are too old to drive. Vinfast is also setting up a certified pre-owned program so that “customers will see the preeminence of our battery subscription program.”

Canadian prices for the automaker’s vehicles, the VF 8 and the VF 9, have not yet been revealed, but in the U.S. they will start at $41,000 USD ($52,525 CAD at current exchange rates) and $56,000 USD ($71,741 CAD) respectively. Vinfast plans to open two storefronts in Toronto, as well as one in Vancouver and one in Montreal in the coming months. By the end of 2023, it expects to have 38 retail and service locations around the country.

Vietnam-based carmaker VinFast is getting closer to its goal of selling cars in the United States. It announced an initial investment of up to $2 billion to build a new manufacturing facility in Chatham County, North Carolina, that will have an annual capacity of about 150,000 cars.

Setting up shop in North Carolina, close to several manufacturers and suppliers, is expected to create thousands of local jobs. VinFast explained that its future plant will be split into three areas: the first will be dedicated to building electric cars and buses, the second will make batteries, and the third will be made available to suppliers. Construction is scheduled to start in 2022 and production should begin in 2024.

As of writing, VinFast plans to build its VF9 and VF8 models (introduced as the VF e36 and VF e35, respectively) in North Carolina; the former is a seven-seater SUV and the latter is a smaller, five-seater model. Looking ahead, the company will continue to invest in the North Carolina facility, though additional details haven't been released yet. It's reasonable to expect that, if everything goes according to plan, the plant's annual capacity will increase in the 2020s. VinFast notably introduced three EVs at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

Preliminary specifications released in January 2022 give us an idea of what to expect from the first VinFast model with a "made in America" tag. The VF8 and VF9 (pictured above) will both we powered by an electric drivetrain rated at about 402 horsepower and 472 pound-feet of torque. The VF8 will offer a maximum driving range of about 316 miles when put through the testing cycle used in Europe, which normally yields higher numbers than the one used in the United States, while the VF9's bigger battery will unlock up to 422 miles of driving range. And, speaking of batteries, they won't be sold with the car: buyers will need to lease the pack though one of two subscription plans.

Excluding the battery from the purchase price will help VinFast keep pricing relatively low: the VF8 will start at around $41,000 and the VF9 will carry a base price of approximately $56,000. Note that those figures don't include options, the destination charge, or incentives.

More details about VinFast's ambitious plans to gain a secure foothold on the American market will emerge in the coming months. And, the firm isn't pegging its growth solely on America: its facility in Haiphong, Vietnam, should be able to build 950,000 cars annually by 2026.

NEW YORK — Vietnamese electric car company VinFast has been going to great lengths to show that it's serious about entering the U.S. car market. It even filed an IPO and has a factory planned for North Carolina. And it's looking more and more real, especially since its first two models have actual pricing now.

Two SUVs will be offered to start, the two-row VF 8 and the VF 9 (formerly known as VF32 and VF33 or VF e35 and VF e36). The former has a somewhat sleek and sporty look, whereas the latter has a boxy broad-shouldered design. The VF 8, in accordance with its smaller size, will be the most affordable of the two. It's available in two trims, Eco and Plus. The 348-horsepower Eco has better range, and the 402-horsepower Plus is quicker. Each trim has two battery options. The breakdown in trims, pricing and range are listed below, though VinFast hasn't specified whether these prices include destination charges.

• Eco, 260-mile range: $40,700
• Eco, 292-mile range: $41,000
• Plus, 248-mile range: $47,700
• Plus, 277-mile range: $48,000

The VF 9 has the same basic trim and battery structure. However, both trims make the same 402 horsepower. The difference in range is likely due to the Plus model's additional features such as larger wheels, a panoramic sunroof and more. The trim, range and pricing is below.

• Eco, 272-mile range: $55,500
• Eco, 369-mile range: $56,000
• Plus, 262-mile range: $60,500
• Plus, 360-mile range: $61,000

The shorter-range options will be the only ones available at first, but the longer-range versions will be available in 2023.



One of the unusual aspects of VinFast will be the fact that, initially, the batteries will leased. So instead of the cost of the batteries being rolled into the cost of the car, you'll pay monthly fees for them. The benefit of this is that the batteries have a lifetime warranty, and when the capacity drops below 70%, VinFast will replace them at no additional charge. So if you plan on keeping the car for a particularly long time, you won't be staring down a hefty price for a battery pack, or plugging along with a suboptimal battery. Whether that makes sense for your pocketbook and use case will be up to you. To our understanding, VinFast will add the option to buy a vehicle and purchase the battery outright if you prefer, rather than paying for the subscription.

As for the pricing for battery leasing, there are two options. The Fixed plan is targeted at people who intend to drive frequently and put plenty of miles on the car. It has no mileage limits, and the price is set at $110 per month for the VF 8, and $160 for the VF 9.

The Flexible plan is for buyers who don't drive often. The monthly cost starts at $35 per month for the VF 8 and $44 for the VF 9. This includes 310 miles of driving. Every mile past that is an extra $0.11 for the VF 8 and $0.15 for VF 9.

VinFast is currently taking reservations on its SUVs. As previously mentioned, it plans on delivering its first models this year, and longer-range ones are coming next year. There's also a smaller and sportier VF 7 on the way, but the company hasn't divulged mechanical or feature details about it.

VinFast has gotten further than a lot of newly founded car companies so far. The Vietnamese automaker has a few years of sales in its home country under its belt and the ball’s rolling on plans to build its EVs in North Carolina. You probably haven’t seen a VinFast on American roads yet but on July 14, 2022, it opened six stores to sell cars in California. Here's what it’s like to visit a VinFast showroom as a customer

The VinFast store I visited was in the Hillsdale Shopping Center, in San Mateo, California. About 25 minutes south of San Fransisco, the retail store is right on the northern tip of Silicon Valley, not too far from Facebook (Meta) offices. The mall itself is solidly mid-tier, and the outdoor promenade has storefronts that are updated. It’s a nice place to be, but not overly spendy, or as show-stopping as say, Union Square in San Fransisco. I am speculating that maybe this is intentional; the cheapest VinFast will cost about $40,000, a lot cheaper than the $100,000 Lucid Air. Lucid seems choosier with where it places its in-person studios, often in high-dollar, high-arts spaces, like the Meatpacking District in NYC

According to VinFast, its stores are divided into “1S,” “2S,” and “3S” tiers. The 1S stores are small spaces in high-traffic areas focused entirely on vehicle display and sales. 2S is said to be on main thoroughfares, a little bit bigger, and offering service and parts as well. 3S is the largest of the three, offering a traditional dealer sales and service department. I was in a 1S store

I walked into a small showroom, not unlike that you’d find in damn near any other tech store or tech adjacent space. The walls are mostly glass and let in a lot of light, and the walls and floors are white and grey. If you’ve been to an Apple, Tesla, or Windows Store, the VinFast store won’t feel super different. VinFast says “the spacious in-store ambiance blends modern features in harmony with Eastern heritage and beauty inspired by nature,” which is true, I guess. A wood, possibly bamboo, applique adorns an accent wall, and videos and imagery all over the showroom play and show images of the very pretty Vietnamese countryside. I found it less sterile than the typical Tesla store. There was a glassed-off waiting room, but I couldn’t get any salesman to tell me exactly what it was for.

In the middle of the showroom, sat one lone model—the VinFast VF8. VinFast’s PR department explained to me that only the Santa Monica location would have both the VF8 and VF9.

I took one look at the red VF8, and one of the ten or so salesmen in black polo shorts smiling and abuzz with enthusiasm with the brand, walked over to assist me. The room was full of wanderers and mall walkers who had stumbled into the showroom on a Saturday morning. Most seemed like random curious passersby, I think I may have been one of the few who came intentionally

The salesman was helpful, giving me an overview of the vehicle’s specifications, pricing, and incentives. I prodded and poked around the VF8, but the salesman was adamant that it was a preproduction vehicle. It felt it, some trim pieces were not finished, and the salesman told me that some functions were disabled. I reserve full judgment for the actual vehicle when I can get my hands on a production model. From what I can tell sitting in a static, showroom vehicle, the VF8 seems to be about the same size as the Volkswagen ID.4, but with more legroom, softer seats, and a usable frunk.

I asked the salesman how one would go about purchasing a VinFast vehicle. The salesman told me that it’s as simple as meeting with a salesman in a VinFast store, who will help you configure a new vehicle. I pressed the man further, asking if I could simply build and order online, and take delivery at home (or a VinFast store). He said “yes, but it might be best to order in person,” I assumed he was just being helpful, but he might be right.

VinFast has a configurator for the VF8 and VF9, but the configurator doesn’t have pricing. When the configurator launches, it displays a message that the configurator is for illustrative purposes, and does not currently apply to reservations. The configurator has no pricing, either. If you wish to purchase a VinFast, it requires a $200 reservation, in which you will be paired with a VinFast representative who will help you spec your vehicle. This isn’t unique to VinFast, Rivian does this with its “Rivian Guides,” but at least the Rivian configurator gives folks an idea of how much their dream truck will cost. Later, when I returned home to Ohio, I called the Vinfast customer service hotline, which informed me that the configurator’s pricing won’t be added until “a later date.” OK.

I reached out to Vinfast for clarification, and it seemingly seconded my “concierge,” somewhat in-favor-of in-store sales approach. A representative of Vinfast’s PR department said that the brand wants a “seamless online-to-offline sales experience.” Customers can make reservations online, yes, but “for direct sales at VinFast Stores, customers will receive detailed and specific consultation on product options and financial solutions,” wrote the VinFast representative, via email. “In-store customers will also be able to experience several options including colors, materials, and features in-person, allowing them to select and reserve VinFast cars more easily and enjoyably,” the representative continued.

I left the VinFast store with more questions than I came with. The salesman thanked me for my time, adding that his store would be getting a VF9 display in a few weeks. Deliveries of the VF8 could happen as soon as late September. That’s a tall order for a company that has a product with a lot of unanswered questions

We’ve seen this before—new companies with deep pockets full of cash insist they can do the EV thing better than legacy automakers. But can they? Just think of the number of EV startups that have come, gone, and stuck around, like Lucid, Arrival, Rivian, Tesla, Bollinger, SF Motors, Byton, Fisker, Kandi, Alpha Motors, Nikola, Faraday Future, Canoo, and dozens more that would exceed the word limit I had in mind for this paragraph. Many have struggled to make it past a handful of rolling prototypes, let alone open a store, allow potential customers to ogle a physical product, and accept reservations for said physical product. On one hand, VinFast is far ahead of a lot of them with its physical stores. On the other hand, VinFast needs to clarify its plans if it ever expects to sell any vehicles in the United States

TechCrunch wrote that the Vietnamese EV car company Vinfast is bringing its EV companies to the U.S. Since then, congress announced it is making changes to the $7,500 federal electric vehicle tax credit, meaning that it becomes much harder to get that sweet, sweet tax deduction. The two major changes are that the tax credit will becomes means-tested (i.e. if your household makes more than a certain amount, you don't qualify) and sticker-price limited (cars over $40k and SUVs and trucks with a slightly higher limit). That's pretty dramatic — up to 70% of today's electric vehicles would not be eligible for a credit, Reuters reports.

Various car manufacturers have scrambled to figure out how to react, but VinFast is taking more extreme steps than most, promising that if you have a pre-order with the manufacturer and you are no longer eligible for the tax rebate, they'll give you a $7,500 discount on the car instead.

"VinFast is a brand that not only stands behind our vehicles with our 10-year/125,000-mile warranty but more importantly, we stand behind our customers!" the company writes in an email to its pre-order holders. "For customers who apply for the $7,500 tax credit under current IRC 30D requirements and are denied by the IRS for reasons not attributable to the customer, VinFast will provide the customer a $7,500 purchase price rebate (or similar rebate) on their VinFast vehicle purchase. The binding agreement contains additional details on eligibility for the rebate."

This offer comes with a few conditions; customers have to convert their non-binding $200 pre-order to a written binding contract. The $200 refundable reservation fee will become non-refundable, and the contract the company generates means you can try your luck with the IRS, with the current $7,500 tax credit before Congress changes the program. If it fails, the $7,500 discount kicks in, the company announced.

Personally, I think it's pretty clever to lower the tax rebate to $40,000 — yes, most cars won't be covered, but it means that low-end EVs become all that more accessible to customers and will incentivize manufacturers to create more accessible EVs. Ultimately; it's fun that we have electric trucks that are beating sports cars on the drag strip and family saloons that are the quickest things on the road, but those are marketing headlines. To put a real dent in climate change, we need to incentivize as many as people to make the switch from gasoline and diesel to electric as soon as we can — and we're not going to get there by flogging Tesla Model S Plaid to the 1% of the population who can afford them.

Vietnam-based electric vehicle maker VinFast said on Tuesday it has filed for an initial public offering in the United States and plans to list its ordinary shares on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol "VFS."

For the IPO, the company said it will convert to a Singapore public limited company and will be known as VinFast Auto Ltd, while the number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined.

While no time frame was specified on Tuesday for the offering, the IPO was initially slated for the fourth quarter of this year, the company had previously said.

The company's parent, Vingroup conglomerate, said in May that the IPO maybe delayed to 2023 due to market uncertainty.

VinFast, which began operations in 2019, is betting big on the U.S. market, where it hopes to compete with legacy automakers and startups with its two all-electric SUVs and a battery leasing model that will reduce the vehicle purchase price.

In April, VinFast's Singapore-based holding company filed for a confidential IPO with U.S. securities regulators, as it readied a $4 billion investment to build a factory in the United States.

The company in late November shipped its first batch of 999 vehicles to the United States, capping a five-year bid to develop an auto production hub in Vietnam for markets in North America and Europe. VinFast has several locations in California.

From the outside looking in, it seems VinFast succeeded in hitting its target delivery date at the price of failing the customer. The young EV automaker said repeatedly this year that it planned to deliver the first examples of the VF 8 battery-electric SUV to reservation holders before 2022 ended. The Silver Queen cargo ship left Vietnam in late November, disgorging 999 VF 8's at the port of Benicia, north of San Francisco, in December. Then came the ol' switcheroo. Every unit on the cargo ship was a previously unheard of "limited release" variant called the City Edition set aside "for VinFirst Pioneer customers only," the first among the reservation holders. In a letter to expectant shoppers, VinFast said the City Edition's "early release [was] to meet the demand of VinFast vehicle lovers" and offers a range of "approximately" 180 miles instead of the 260-mile range promised in April this year.

The City Edition's smaller range comes courtesy of a smaller 82-kWh battery instead of the 87.7-kWh battery in the series production VF 8. The bad news continues with VinFast's retail site claiming 179 EPA-estimated miles, not 180. The company says an OTA update in January will improve range, but didn't say by how much.

The automaker's also delayed its battery subscription program that was going to cost $169 per month for the VF 8 and give customers unlimited miles. The relevant page on the retail site now says, "At this time all vehicles are sold or leased inclusive of battery," and the vehicle warranty lasts for 10 years or 125,000 miles. With the subscription once touted as a way to save money on leasing or ownership, its end could help explain why prices have gone up on the series production models. In April, VinFast expected to sell a VF 8 Eco with a 260-mile range for $41,200 after the $1,200 destination fee, a VF 8 Plus with a 277-mile range costing $49,200. Now, the City Edition Eco starts at $56,700, the City Edition Plus starts at $63,700, the base VF 8 Eco starts at $60,200.

For comparison, a 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium with e-AWD and the standard battery with 224 miles of range starts at $58,975, if you could find one.

VinFast offered the VinFirst Pioneers a $6,000 total discount for switching to the City Edition, but it's possible the number of aggrieved reservation holders compelled a change of strategy. Instead of the letter's assertion that the model was only for early adopters, VinFast's retail website now shows a pop up offering a 24-month lease deal to California residents who want the City Edition. With $5,774 due at signing, the City Edition Eco will cost $599 per month and offer 10,000 miles per year. A 36-month lease offer asks $6,869 down and $574 per month. The City Edition Plus needs $6,789 due at signing, then costs $699 per month for 10,000 miles per year for 24 months.

Back to ranges, there could be more questions on the way for the series models. On VinFast's U.S. site, the reservation page containing specs for the VF 8 and VF 9 also include asterisks next to their range figures of "up to 292 miles" and "up to 342 miles," respectively. On that page, the explanation given for both is, "Value valid for VF 8 Eco Enhanced Range trim level (battery variant 2). Preliminary values, determined according to the principles of the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) Standard." All of which means the various numbers VinFast is using here might not end up being the numbers the EPA uses.

It's early days for the company here, and news cycles turn quickly. Nevertheless, we think VinFast's local reps are going to be busy for a while getting everything headed in the desired direction again.

Nascent EV automaker VinFast is spending January trying to find its feet in the rapidly shifting U.S. market, some of the wobbles self-inflicted. After bringing a first batch of VF8 crossovers to the West Coast in December, reservation holders were informed every unit on the cargo ship was a previously unheard of "limited release" variant called the City Edition set aside "for VinFirst Pioneer customers only." In a letter to expectant shoppers, VinFast said City Edition came with a 179-mile range instead of the 260-mile or 277-mile range promised in April last year. Not only that, the automaker delayed its battery subscription program that was going to cost $169 per month for the VF 8 and give customers unlimited miles. New pricing for the VF8 was $56,700 for the City Edition Eco, the City Edition Plus starting at $63,700, and a base VF 8 Eco starting at $60,200 whenever it arrives. All those prices include the $1,200 destination fee. A California-only lease program starts at $519 a month.

Then Tesla lopped a bunch of money off the price of the Model 3 and Model Y, sending some competing EV companies back to their calculators, VinFast one of them. The retail site now proclaims "a special VF 8 City Edition promotional program for the U.S. market" that takes $6,500 off both prices. That makes the VF 8 City Edition Eco MSRP $50,200, the City Edition Plus MSRP $57,200. On top of that, the site says, "Customers will receive an additional direct discount of $3,000 off the MSRP." Assuming final prices of $47,200 and $54,200 before options, the City Editions would still be above, but much closer to, initial pricing announced last April of $41,200 for the VF 8 Eco and $49,200 for the VF 8 Plus.

Range has increased as well, but it's still wanting. VinFast said an OTA update this month would increase range, the new City Editions now touted as going an estimated 207 miles on a charge instead of 179 or 180. Yes, it's a good improvement. However, the number still lags far behind the 260-mile and 277-mile ranges for the VF 8 Eco and Plus, respectively, that VinFast mentioned in April last year when the crossover was less expensive.

The Tesla Model Y Dual Motor starts at $54,880 and goes 330 miles on a charge. That's a nifty $7,680 more than the VinFast VF 8 City Edition Eco, $680 more than the VF 8 City Edition Plus. The thing is, for now, until March this year, the Model Y is eligible for the $7,500 tax credit. Getting the full amount would make the Tesla just $180 more than the base City Edition and a whole lot less than the premium City Edition Pro. Last year, VinFast said certain customers could receive the tax credit anyway, but it's not clear if that's still the case; our guess is the tax credit provision is where the new discount comes from, applied to all customers instead of a subset. We don't know how the new pricing is meant to sway Tesla shoppers, though. The VinFast Reddit boards were already full of reservation holders discussing how to get out of buying what feels like a bait-and-switch in the City Edition, and now they're peppered with commenters saying they swapped their VF 8 reservations for a Model Y.

EV makers, like Rome, aren't built in a day — even Tesla spent many years becoming *Tesla.* We're sure teams at VinFast's new consolidated North American HQ are braced for a few stormy years, all of which might be passable if the company would stop punching holes its own boat.

Well, it took me 37 years, 72 days, 9 hours, and 30 minutes, but it finally happened: I got carsick for the very first time. I’d been driving the VinFast VF8 for less than an hour when my inner ear sounded the alarm and politely (read: urgently) requested I stop to get some fresh air. On the shoulder of a scenic road in San Diego County, I paced around the VF8 wondering what the hell was going on. But I wasn’t the only one in a state of confusion and nausea. My passenger wasn’t feeling so hot, either.

Composure regained, we hit the road again, this time with me riding shotgun, and we only made it a couple of miles before the uneasy feeling returned. The road wasn’t super curvy and we’d been cruising along at a moderate pace, but the sheer amount of bouncy body motions coming through the VF8’s suspension made being in this electric crossover – and I say this without hyperbole – unbearable.

That alone would’ve been enough to tarnish my opinion of this debut product from Vietnam’s ambitious automotive startup. But things only got worse from there.
Let me be clear: The VinFast VF8 is not a concept or pre-production vehicle. The company has already started customer deliveries of its first electric SUV, with 14 retail locations currently up and running in California and another 14 expected to open in the Golden State before the end of the year. That means the car I drove is 100 percent representative of the final product being sold to consumers. Keep that in mind.

Right now, you can only get the VF8 City Edition, which has an 82.0-kilowatt-hour battery pack and two electric motors. Credit where credit’s due, the VF8’s onboard power doesn’t draw any ire. The base City Edition Eco offers a not-insubstantial 349 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque, while the Plus – what I drove – has 402 hp and 457 lb-ft. Even at a porky 5,732 pounds, the Plus accelerates briskly; VinFast estimates it’ll hit 62 miles per hour in 5.5 seconds. Midrange punch is fine, too. But that’s where the good stuff ends.

The VF8’s official EPA range numbers are bad: 207 miles for the Eco and 191 miles for the Plus. That puts the VF8 behind just about every other electric crossover on sale today. The VF8 can accept DC fast charging speeds of up to 160 kilowatts, which is good but not great. VinFast says the upcoming VF8 Standard Edition – which is on its way to the US as you read this – should improve those range estimates to 264 miles for the Eco and 243 miles for the Plus thanks to more energy-dense battery chemistry.Famed Italian design house Pininfarina is responsible for the VF8’s styling, and you know, in person, this SUV looks pretty good. The VF8 has just the right amount of weirdness baked into its design and the paint colors are really quite rich and beautiful. The City Edition Plus’ 20-inch wheels look sharp, too.

But then you get inside and things fall apart. Not literally, though I did almost break one of the seat adjustment toggles, and the center console lid on one of the display cars was halfway popped off. The entire door panel flexes when you pull the handle from inside, and the seats are as stiff as they are flat. Headroom and legroom are decent overall, but there are hella cheap materials and inconsistent panel gaps everywhere. It’s like early 2000s General Motors in here.
The majority of the VF8’s controls are housed in the 15.6-inch central touchscreen, which is Tesla-level lousy as far as user experience is concerned. To adjust the mirrors and steering column, you have to use a combination of a menu on the touchscreen and the physical volume/track controls on the steering wheel. At least the wipers are managed through a traditional stalk (that’s ripped from a late-model BMW, oddly).

The infotainment system’s menu structure is a mess, with some icons clearly labeled and others discoverable only through the ol’ guess-and-check method. Many inputs end up requiring repeated taps, and you need to be sure to hit the exact middle of each icon or the system won’t budge. Response times are slow, swipes are laggy, and god help you if you need to rely on the natural-language voice functionality.
“Hey, VinFast, what’s the weather like in San Diego?” Easy question, right? The car even displayed my exact words on the screen, meaning it definitely heard me, but then told me it couldn’t understand my request. This happened again and again. “Hey, VinFast, roll down the passenger window” worked, miraculously, but only after a delay of 20 seconds, which is an absolute eternity in tech time. Happily, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard.

Other problems? The backup camera refresh rate is abysmal and the feed is super low-res. The head-up display washes out if you’re wearing polarized sunglasses, so you have to look over at the center screen to see your speedometer. The one-tap/three-blink turn signal function didn’t always work, but only while turning left. The climate control has a digital temperature gauge, but in practice, it only has two settings: freezing or surface of the sun. The electronic gear buttons look ridiculous and take up as much space as a traditional PRNDL shifter. The list goes on.

Hilariously, VinFast’s executives actually warned me that the car might constantly chime with warnings while driving, and lo, that was my experience. You can program all sorts of drive settings and driver-assistance preferences, but the moment you get out of the car, everything resets. Thankfully, the standard Level 2 driving aid – which combines adaptive cruise control, road sign recognition, and lane-keeping assist – operates without hiccups. But you can also turn it on whenever you want, and like Tesla’s Autopilot, VinFast’s system won’t ask you to put your hands on the wheel, which is unsafe. It’s all just so wild.

From a ride and handling standpoint, the VF8 needs big-time help. The crap suspension damping and motion sickness–inducing body movements aren’t even the biggest issues. The steering response is nonlinear and inconsistent, and there is absolutely no feedback delivered through the wheel. It’s terrible, especially when you put the VF8 in Sport mode and the steering becomes so overboosted that it’s borderline uncontrollable. My car also pulled to the right on flat surfaces, so that’s fun.The brakes are decent, and there are two levels of regeneration, but even the highest setting isn’t strong enough to allow for one-pedal driving. You can turn a creep function on and off, but if you choose the latter, there’s no hill hold assist and the VF8 will roll forward or backward(!) if you take your foot off the brake while stopped.

If you described a car to ChatGPT and had it build something without any background knowledge or contextual awareness, the VF8 is what I imagine you’d get. Drive literally any other modern car back to back with the VF8 and you’ll see how much catching up VinFast has to do.

I could maybe – maybe – forgive some of this stuff if the VinFast was priced well below its competition. But with a starting price of $50,200 including a $1,200 destination charge, the VF8 is more expensive than the majority of its rivals. Even worse, the nicely equipped City Edition Plus costs $57,200. A fully loaded Hyundai Ioniq 5 Limited AWD? $57,835 including destination. No way in hell would I ever recommend the VF8 over an Ioniq 5, let alone any other new EV. VinFast’s solid 10-year, 125,000-mile warranty and 24/7 access to mobile service technicians can’t even sweeten this deal.

VinFast says the VF8 can be updated over the air, but even if the company completely smooths out every bit of the SUV’s software, that won’t fix the inherent troubles. There’s no unique selling point; no big reason to roll the dice on a new brand. The VF8 feels and drives like a prototype vehicle that’s a year away from launch. It needs work. A lot of work. I cannot believe this is a vehicle you can go out and buy right now.