(ASEAN Startups) Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup auto arm VinFast has released and distributed to customers its first batch of VF e34 electric vehicles (EV) at VinFast manufacturing complex in Hai Phong, Vietnam, making the country one of the world’s few countries to have mastered the technology behind clean-energy vehicle production.
The VF e34 is an electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) in the C/mid-size segment, offering a modern design, impressive acceleration, intuitive operation, and abundant integrated smart features that are researched and developed exclusively for the Vietnamese market, VinFast said in a statement.
According to the statement, VF e34 has numerous unique features, including its virtual assistant developed by VinBigData, a member company of Vingroup’s technology ecosystem.
With multi-regional Vietnamese accent recognition, users can directly interact with the vehicle and control many features conveniently and easily. Customers can also book lots of services supplied by other members of Vingroup such as medical services at Vinmec, entertainment services, and flights on the Vinpearl app.
Furthermore, customers are able to watch movies through FPT Play or shop through Shopee’s own app. New features and utility services will be continuously updated to customers through remote software installation (FOTA).
To support customers to experience smart features on the VF e34, VinFast has also partnered with MobiFone Telecommunication Corporation to offer customers optimal eSIM data packages.
With VF e34, VinFast offers an optional advanced feature package worth 60 million VND ($2.600), including driver assistance features in terms of safety, navigation system, geo-limit, and time settings. This optional feature package will be given by VinFast as a tribute to more than 25,000 pioneering customers who ordered VF e34 smart electric cars before the opening of the sale.
In the delivery of the first batch of electric vehicles, VinFast also officially announced its new battery rental package for customers in Vietnam.
To support customers, VinFast has reduced the minimum package from a distance of 1,400 km per month to 500 km per month. Specifically, the monthly subscription rate is 657,500 VND per month ($30) for a maximum distance of 500km per month.
In case of traveling more than 500 km per month, customers will pay an additional battery rental fee for VinFast at a unit price of 1,315 VND per km ($0.05).
Furthermore, when the battery’s charging capacity drops below 70 percent, VinFast will replace the new battery completely free of charge for customers.
According to the statement, VinFast is also committed to renting batteries for the entire product life cycle and will adjust its rental price annually.
Every year on December 1, VinFast will adjust battery rents and it will be based solely on the increase or decrease of electricity or gasoline prices.
Meanwhile, all 25,000 pioneering customers will get free battery rent for the first 12 months.
It is also noted that the fee for charging cars at VinFast’s public charging stations is VND 2,834 per kWh ($0.12), equivalent to the level 5 electricity price announced by the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade on March 20, 2019.
According to the statement, if the battery is fully charged but the car still occupies the charging position, customers will have to pay an additional fee of VND 1,000 per minute ($0.04) from 31 minutes onwards. This cost is paid along with the monthly battery subscription fee.
Customers who buy VF e34 cars are also gifted a 2.2kW portable charger to actively charge the battery with the home power grid. VinFast also offers a 7.4kW wall-mounted charger with a price of VND 9.4 million ($411) for customers wishing to install more at home.
It is expected that in January 2022, VinFast will continue to hand over thousands more VF e34 vehicles to customers who have deposited in advance.
In order to continue the era of smart electric cars that have officially opened in Vietnam, VinFast will also introduce a complete EV lineup of electric cars, including 5 models in the A-B-C-D-E segments at the 2022 Consumer Electric Show (CES) from January 5th to January 8th, in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.
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