Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/CALIFORNIA: Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer VinFast delivered its first 45 cars to customers in the US state of California on Wednesday, in what was the firm’s first sale outside Vietnam.
The company, a subsidiary of conglomerate Vingroup JSC, had shipped 999 cars to California in November 2022 but faced more than two months of costly delays in preparing them for delivery.
The previous week, the firm slashed the lease price on the VF8 electric crossover by 50%.
Issue of lower battery range
VinFast faced anger as well as frustration from early reservation holders when it said that the initial shipment of VF8 vehicles would have a lower battery range than the company had flagged in marketing.
It dropped an option for consumers to rent the electric vehicle’s battery, a plan it had advertised as a way to bring down the cost of ownership. VinFast said that the VF8 City Edition Eco, the rebranded version of the car to account for its lower range, would have the EPA estimated battery range of 207 miles.
VinFast said that the first cars were available for lease through US Bancorp. However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has not provided a safety rating yet. VinFast signaled it expects the lease to qualify for a subsidy of up to 7,500 dollars under the Biden administration’s incentive plan payable to a finance company. VinFast is not yet certified to participate in the subsidy.
