Present at the Paris Motor Show to conquer the European market, the Vietnamese is offering the country of Uncle Sam its VF8 SUV with a significantly lower range than its competitors. Here because.
In France, VinFast has just opened concessions in Paris, Niceand is expected to expand further in 2023. But in the United States, where the Vietnamese manufacturer already has a strong presence, next year’s sales are already somewhat compromised with one feature that surprises even the competition: the autonomy of its VF8, less than 300 kilometres.
In question: the American homologation cycle
For a 100% electric SUV, it is now above all necessary to exceed this milestone in order to hope to attract customers. But with a range of just 288 kilometres, and especially in Uncle Sam’s land, it will be very difficult to compete with competing models in the same segment.
While the VF8 has just arrived in California, its homologation has been formalized and the first deliveries are scheduled for the end of December, a grain of sand has come to stop the machine.
The range cycle used in North America to estimate the official range of electric vehicles is the EPA (for the Environmental Protection Agency), one of the strictest in terms of evaluation as it takes away an average of 20% of the range and hence it gives it a reputation for being closer to reality.
More range for less with Tesla
It is the case of the United States, going from a probable 402 kilometers of range with us to 288 kilometres, a drop of around 21% for the 999 examples of the VF8 City Edition already on its way to the dealerships. At nearly $60,000 for the starting price (55 400 €)is likely to be avoided initially with better competition.
For the same EPA cycle, the Audi Q4 50 e-tron is offered a $55,200 (€51,900) for 380 kilometers of rangea Cadillac Lyriq Propulsion (502km) a $62,990 (€59,200)a Tesla Model Y (455km) a $52,200 (€49,000) and a Tesla Model Y Long Autonomy (531 km, almost double) a $65,990 (€62,000).
VinFast promises that this figure will be corrected and updated in January. In Europe, the exact value, known thanks to the WLTP method, should be formalized “at the end of the 4th quarter of 2022”. We are still waiting.
