This tiny EV crossover from VinFast will go on sale in the US
- Thread starter JournalBot
- Start date
Fun fact, the styling was actually done externally. It looks like it was done by an Australian consultancy (who are literally within walking distance of me)!
https://www.carsales.com.au/editori...ric-ute-and-suv-designed-in-australia-144054/
Upvote
3
(3
/
0)
That right there is a big reason why manufacturers use networked torque wrenches.
https://meincmagazine.com/security/20...ies-can-be-hacked-for-sabotage-or-ransomware/
Upvote
7
(7
/
0)
This is how they should have entered the US market to begin with: starting with entry level models and then building their reputation from there. Trying to jump into the market at the upper end where all the other established brands were competing was a mistake, especially for a brand new design.
Hyundai entered the us market in 1992 with the bare bones $9,000 Excel and gradually built their capabilities and reputation until now they are a top brand with well respected models like the ionic 5 and Genesis.
Hyundai entered the us market in 1992 with the bare bones $9,000 Excel and gradually built their capabilities and reputation until now they are a top brand with well respected models like the ionic 5 and Genesis.
Upvote
7
(7
/
0)
A 400hp electric motor and a battery pack that gets you ~120 miles on a good day?
Until batteries become significantly lighter and more energy dense, making ICE to pure EV conversions will be mostly about status rather than practicality, and that doesn't bode well for a cottage industry of mechanics working on conversions.
Upvote
9
(9
/
0)
Upvote
4
(4
/
0)
Ah, so true!
I like classic cars, and own both a Triumph Spitfire (1972) and a BMW Z3 (1998). The amount of money I've spent on both, just to maintain road-worthiness is staggering, and that's because I do most of the work myself.
The Z3 in particular fits exactly your description: any odd plastic bit costs an unbelievable amount of money. And that's if the part is available at all.
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
Kudos on the pricing. The styling doesn't suck, either (surprised me, actually).
The range, though...
Well, on the bright side, it's probably faster charging to 80% than most EV's, but that's still going to be a problem for most Americans. Range anxiety is real, and charging times have to be VERY low to even make the notion reasonable.
For a daily commute vehicle that doesn't have to go more than 60 miles each way, and with a home with a charging unit, it's probably useful. In short, it's a niche vehicle for those who have homes and charging stations already built in.
After all, the charging stuff can add several thousand dollars to the costs, and if they're buying this for economy, that kind of blows the economy. It won't qualify for any tax credits (but at that income level, people don't make enough to GET those tax credits) since the batteries aren't sourced in the U.S.
So kind of a mixed bag there. The range is seriously sub-par even if the pricing is equally low. It may sell to the more well off who want to decarbonize, but for the average apartment dweller, folks on a fixed income and others who still need a car, but can't afford new, it's not likely to attract a lot of attention.
The range, though...
Well, on the bright side, it's probably faster charging to 80% than most EV's, but that's still going to be a problem for most Americans. Range anxiety is real, and charging times have to be VERY low to even make the notion reasonable.
For a daily commute vehicle that doesn't have to go more than 60 miles each way, and with a home with a charging unit, it's probably useful. In short, it's a niche vehicle for those who have homes and charging stations already built in.
After all, the charging stuff can add several thousand dollars to the costs, and if they're buying this for economy, that kind of blows the economy. It won't qualify for any tax credits (but at that income level, people don't make enough to GET those tax credits) since the batteries aren't sourced in the U.S.
So kind of a mixed bag there. The range is seriously sub-par even if the pricing is equally low. It may sell to the more well off who want to decarbonize, but for the average apartment dweller, folks on a fixed income and others who still need a car, but can't afford new, it's not likely to attract a lot of attention.
Upvote
-7
(3
/
-10)
I could see it filling a niche as a second car in some households. It would be tempting as a car for new driver teens if safety weren't a big question mark.
Upvote
5
(5
/
0)
I don't know about any of that Fatesrider. It's definitely a commuter car for people who own homes, but that isn't exactly a 'niche' market. Consider, another option for such an optional vehicle, a $7000 Honda CB500X or Royal Enfield INT650, or Kawasaki Versus 650. Americans are abnormally shy about riding two wheels, but give them four wheels for a bit more and they'll buy it up. This breaks down if the Vinfast in mid 20s.
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
I was thinking more along the lines of the Yugo as a comparison.
Upvote
0
(0
/
0)
Charger installation costs can vary quite a bit but for something like this L1 charging is probably pretty reasonable. You really don't want to be driving it 100+ miles a day because if that's what you need it will get frustrating sooner rather than later. You can probably pretty reasonably add at least 30 miles of range a night just on L1 charging. More if you can plug it in as soon as you get home and let it charge for 12+ hours. You could probably even handle a daily commute a bit longer than that by letting it slowly drain over the week as long as you could fairly consistently let it catch up over the weekend. Having said that, home L2 charging would certainly be nice. Personally, we spent almost 2 months using L1 charging after we got our Leaf and just got our L2 charger installed last week. After power company rebate it will have cost us $500 for the charger and install. If the 30% federal credit gets extended into 2024 that would drop down to $250. That's far less than the several thousand you suggest. Admittedly, we didn't need a service upgrade to accommodate the charger and it is right next to our main panel since it's in the garage so you can't get much cheaper without doing it yourself. But that's the problem with generalizing when situations can vary a lot.
Upvote
10
(10
/
0)
Realistically cost is the biggest issue imo. If I could get even 80hp and 120 miles of range by EV-swapping my Fit, it'd be a very useful vehicle for daily use around the city. The problem is that such a conversion costs like $40k which is pretty silly unless it's for a hobby project
View: https://youtu.be/dXCTXxL5lr0?t=477
Upvote
9
(9
/
0)
I've had the same thought about my Del Sol, especially since no one really makes an EV convertible. But it's just not cost effective.
Upvote
0
(0
/
0)
It's also smaller than a Fiat 500. I doubt it. It looks cool, but two doors and an A-segment footprint are nonstarters here, in my view. Punch it out to Kia Venue size, we might be talking.
Upvote
2
(3
/
-1)
This is 100 percent my use case. We don’t need a second car 80 percent of days; the 20 percent of days we need it, we REALLY need it and it ends up being a scheduling nightmare — these aren’t bikeable distances, and public transit would mean a straightforward 18-20 minute drive would be ~2+ hours each way, with significant walking and crossing of stroads. I really, really wanted a cheap Honda e to come to the US, but it wasn’t to be.
Let’s hope VinFast doesn’t do any stupid pricing shit with a rentable battery that costs 8x the base car, like their other offering. Offer it for $18-20k, all-in, no stupid battery rental subscription, and it’ll sell like hotcakes.
Upvote
6
(6
/
0)
It may be a workable solution for you personally, but I am extremely skeptical that it will sell like hotcakes. Stretch it and give it four doors, then we might be getting somewhere, but it's too compromised even for a bare-bones second commuter - I could absolutely make the range work, and did with my i3, but if you've got kids under 13, it's strongly recommended they ride in the back seat. Without the ability to easily drop kids off at school, I dunno, man.
Upvote
-2
(1
/
-3)
That's a cool looking little car. I'd sure like to see more options that go against the big truck trend. Although, I'm quite tall (2m), which doesn't help me fit in small vehicles, unfortunately.
Upvote
1
(1
/
0)
I tend to concur. Really limited range and two doors cuts a LOT of buyers out. And at that price point, it's competing with a whole lot of used Bolts and i3s and Leafs that are significantly more capable - even the Leaf.
Upvote
1
(2
/
-1)
Wow, yeah, I just looked up the dimensions - it's 20in longer than a Smart Fortwo, a foot and a half shorter than the Fiat 500, ten inches shorter than a Mitsubishi Mirage. It's a smol boi.
Upvote
0
(2
/
-2)
I see no problem since someone will snap up used ones to play with. A vehicle need not succeed for those who manufacturer it to be useful to techies and cheap acquire then modify. As with Harbor Freight tools etc perfect is not much competition to good enough.
If I bought a Tesla or F-150 lemon I'd be irate because in their price range lemons are unacceptable.
If I buy a used broken shitbox I expect to wrench on it as I expect to repair and modify my scrounged computers, machine tools and other used equipment. As these arrive happy content creators will tear them down and gearheads will learn what makes them tick.
If the maker wants market share they will choose to evolve. I've lived through the (short because they hustled) early Japanese shitbox motorbike era, the early US econoshitbox era in the 1980s, the ongoing Creality printer shitbox era (which spawned an aftermarket and mod community to sort them out) etc. The low end POV market is extensive and any BEV market penetration is good news.
I suggest any Arsians who get to drive one send constructive critiques to the company because they need informed feedback to improve. If they fail to listen oh well, but friendly feedback is no disservice.
Last edited:
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
I miss the CNE. I remember as a kid being able to go through the food building and basically eating for free from all the samples.
Then off to the Better Living Centre.
Conklin midway and the Flyer. A concert at the grandstand and then the Kochman Hell Drivers.
We used to get a free entry pass from school.
Upvote
0
(0
/
0)
Upvote
4
(4
/
0)
There is little reason not to put off discretionary buys of unproven consumer good. I let others with money to burn beta test.
Offshore thuggery is of little interest to US consumers (Ars is a tiny niche group). If he keeps his games on the DL and confined to his local sphere of influence he could do well. If not someone else will fill the gap.
Upvote
1
(2
/
-1)
JesusInBeta
Wise, Aged Ars Veteran
Pretty much everything comes out of Vinfast are "done externally": Indian platform, Chinese parts, outsourced designs. The company has no real R&D capacity and the owners controls over 99% of the shares, the whole thing reeks of fraud.
Upvote
2
(3
/
-1)
My main concern is that someone who is getting their government to suppress criticism of their product is probably not interested in improving it.
Upvote
5
(5
/
0)
Not really. I'd be happy with something like this for $12k, and even happier if it were slightly more like an electric kei truck. At $20k I'd have to question why I wouldn't just pay $5k more and get on the waiting list for a Maverick.
Upvote
4
(4
/
0)
Sub 20k and this is a great looking commuter car (as long as your daily commute isn't longer than the range). I could easily get 2+ work weeks out of a single charge.
I like the design too.
I like the design too.
Upvote
0
(0
/
0)
You're replying to a repeat EV FUDster. By all means go for it, but just know what you're getting into. Since EVs aren't immediate drop in replacements for ICEVs without changing a single damn way of thinking, he won't be convinced. Even if they were, he'd probably bitch about not having to do oil changes anymore.
Upvote
6
(6
/
0)
NicoNicoRose
Smack-Fu Master, in training
I do wish people badmouthing range will remember that some of us have commutes under 10 miles and don't need or want $100,000 EVs that go so fast they become menaces on the city streets we live in. A cheap and cheerful EV with 125 miles of range is more than enough for me and would make a great second car to our eight-year-old Spark.
Upvote
0
(4
/
-4)
I have a 69 Fiat Jolly and a 74 BMW CSi. Both smell terrible in operation. I love old cars but there's no denying how much worse they were environmentally.
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
Which do you think would be a more comfortable and pleasant ride, a used well-maintained Mercedes/Cadillac/Audi/Volvo, or a brand new Chevy Spark?
Don’t assume that preferences for nicer, more refined cars are automatically about status. Nicer cars are usually more pleasant to spend time in.
Last edited:
Upvote
5
(5
/
0)
Excellent point. After thinking about it, my perception of EV-swapping as status-driven is mainly because of its high cost. If it was 10x cheaper, there would be >>10x the number of conversions being done.
Upvote
1
(1
/
0)
Building a city car that can sell for under $20k at a profit shouldn't be that hard. City cars don't need huge range, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, or most of the other wizzbang sh!t manufacturers add to justify high prices. Power windows, power locks, A/C - heat, physical buttons for controls, a third party Android Auto/Apple Carplay head unit, LFP battery good for 150 miles. Done.
Upvote
-3
(1
/
-4)
Well, yeah, I mean, I’d like to get a used i3, but of the 44 used i3s in a 250mi radius of me, 28 have a REX, which I don’t want; 12 of the 16 are either older than 2014 or have over 100k miles; and the remaining 4 are above $22k price — which is spitting distance of a new base Bolt, if they still existed. This, potentially with a one-day lease, could be as low as $12.5k net of EV incentive, and totally fine for our specific use-case, which is “one adult needs to be at a doctor’s appointment for themselves or with a parent.”
I wish I could get a used Bolt, but given how badly Chevy flubbed the response to their exploding battery problem, most of them have branded titles and thus no one will lend us money for it — you just don’t know if you’re getting a Bolt with a brand new battery or one with their “software” fix.
Upvote
0
(3
/
-3)
My very first thought was "that's looks just like a Jimmy" so pleased to see it was shouted out. I'd consider getting one, if they came to Europe too - a VF3 that is... Though judging by the number of Jimmys I saw on a visit to Iceland just before the eruption fears started getting bad they're probably a decent car too!
Upvote
1
(1
/
0)
It makes no sense to convert from $40/month in gas to a car payment per month (assuming the Audi is paid for) or to wait 27 years for an economical payback.
Assuming manufactured price is related to CO2 burden (probably less so for an Audi) you are being much worse for your pocket and the environment doing so.
Upvote
1
(2
/
-1)
Upvote
3
(3
/
0)
Maybe not, but the question is why get a 2-seater with limited range for $20k when you can get a Bolt or a used Tesla for not much more that wouldn't be as limiting. Yes it's smaller but it still needs a parking space, insurance, charger access, etc.
Upvote
1
(2
/
-1)
Gas is more expensive where I am than where you are, I think, but finances aren't the only consideration. It would be a second car and would cut our household emissions quite a bit.
Not sure you can assume that.
Upvote
5
(5
/
0)