VinFast ships second batch of electric cars to North America

Vietnamese carmaker VinFast’s second batch of electric vehicles has set sail for the U.S. and Canada, with deliveries set for May and June, respectively, the manufacturer said on Monday.

The Silver Queen carrying 1,879 VF 8 electric SUVs departed from MPC Port in northern Vietnam’s Hai Phong province, home to VinFast’s manufacturing complex.

“The ship is expected to arrive at the Port of Benicia in California after 20 days at sea,” the company said. “Upon arrival, VinFast will offload 1,098 VF 8 vehicles before heading to Canada with the remaining 781 vehicles.”

The VF 8 units comes in two models - the Eco and the Plus. The Eco is equipped with a 260-kilowatt electric motor reaching a maximum torque of 500 Newton-meters. The Plus comes with 300 kW and maximum torque of 620 Newton-meters.

After completing import procedures and required licenses and certificates, VinFast expects to hand over these VF 8 standards to the U.S. customers in May and Canadian customers in June, according to the company.

For the European market, the first batch is expected to leave in mid-July with 700 VF 8 units.

VinFast has continued to expand its global business network by opening more than 30 retail stores and service centers in the US, Canada, Germany, France, and the Netherlands last year. Its first batch for the U.S. market arrived in California last December and delivery started in March.

In Vietnam, VinFast delivered the first VF 9 all-electric SUVs to customers in March and expects to deliver the new subcompact VF 5 Plus models this month. The company said on a global scale, it will start taking orders for the VF 6 and VF 7 models soon.

VinFast is part of Vietnam's largest private conglomerate Vingroup. The company released it first petrol-powered cars in 2018, but and has since shifted to electric vehicles only.

The carmaker is set to open its North Carolina EV and battery manufacturing complex in 2025 instead of 2024 as originally planned.