Vietnamese EV Maker VinFast to begin shipping longer-range VF 8 to US in April

Electric car maker VinFast, which is backed by the country's richest man, is planning to begin shipping a second batch of electric vehicles (EVs) to North America on April 4. The company will send 900 VF 8 standard vehicles to California and 900 to Canada, VinFast Chief Executive Officer Le Thi Thu Thuy informed Bloomberg. Last year, the EV company sent 999 VF 8 City Editions to California. These had shorter range than the upcoming SUVs.

The company also plans to ship 700 standard VF 8s to Europe in mid-June. It expects to start delivering the standard VF 8 to US customers in early May and Canadians in early June. “We are working toward launching the standard VF 8 and will make sure to have all the required certificates at the time of delivery to customers," Thuy said.

This will be VinFast's second North America delivery, and first to Canada. It comes as the carmaker tries to get a foothold in fiercely competitive overseas markets. However, its US start has been apparently slow. Forty-five City Edition electric cars, whose EPA-rated driving range is as much as 207 miles, were delivered to US customers at the beginning of March. The models are being offered at a lease price starting at $399 per month for 24 months, according to its website.

The upcoming standard VF 8 SUV's driving range is estimated to be 293 miles as per WLTP standards, the VinFast website mentions while the model's price is expected to start at $49,000 in the US and C$57,500 in Canada. However, the company is not expected to start production in the US until 2025.

Giving a reason for the VF 8 standard models to be shipped later than the City Edition models in the US, the company said that the City Edition cars were the first version of the VF 8 to go through relevant testing and approval processes in the country and therefore were available sooner than the standard models.