Before the pandemic, the Dutch went en masse to Vietnam ‘to meet themselves’. With the country struggling with bright orange travel advice due to the pandemic, millennials are finding it a lot harder to fill their Instagram feed. Perhaps the arrival of the Vietnamese car brand Vinfast is a welcome outcome.
Enjoy the sunset on the beautiful white Vietnamese beaches from a swing. In the picture with the sweetheart local of that cool street food-tent. And when you get home completely zen and start working as a ‘new me’. Before the corona outbreak, planes full of Dutch backpackers flew to and from Vietnam. Not surprisingly, the Vietnamese miss the Dutch. So they come to the Netherlands with two electric SUVs from Vinfast.
Not expensive
Everything in Vietnam is cheap, and the same can be said of the new Vinfast VF8 and VF9 (previously referred to as e35 and e36). If you want a Vietnamese alternative to the Audi Q5, you can get a VF8 from 44,650 euros. For this money you get a hefty electric SUV with 408 hp/300 kW and 640 Nm of torque. This allows the VF8 to reach 100 km/h in 5.5 seconds.
Vinfast does not provide technical details about the drivetrain of the VF8. It is only known that the car has a WLTP range of 504 km and consumes 17.1 kWh per 100 km. Vinfast has not disclosed the size of the battery. The company does indicate that it works with battery rental. However, further details on how this will work are lacking.
Vinfast VF9: A Vietnamese Q7?
If it is a size bigger, you can choose to hand over 59,650 euros to Vinfast. For that money you get the Vietnamese alternative of the Audi Q7, in the form of the Vinfast VF9. Like its little brother, the VF9 has an electric motor delivering 408 hp/300 kW and 640 Nm, which propels the Vietnamese colossus to 100 km/h in less than 6.5 seconds. The car must have a WLTP range of 550 km and consume 13.3 kWh per 100 km.
It can be concluded from the information that the cars are equipped at the same level. Vinfast talks about a Virtual Assistant, smart route planner, traffic sign recognition, cruise control and a whole slew of driving assistants.
Can be booked until April
Are you interested in a Vinfast? Then you can reserve a copy until April 5. When you can actually throw your backpack in the back of the electric SUV is unclear. Vinfast only indicates that it wants to open dealers in Europe this year and to deliver the two SUVs worldwide.