Vietnamese cars in their first Israeli test

Small and affordable city electric cars can significantly change our perception of transportation. Cars like the BYD Dolphin Surf, which recently landed in Israel, the Dongfeng Box offering a level of luxury uncommon even for higher segments, or the Leapmotor T03, perhaps modest, but priced at NIS 90,000. In this group is also the VinFast VF5 electric car.

The Vietnamese manufacturer VinFast was supposed to begin operations in Israel at the end of 2022, but various reasons, including the prolongation of the war, caused a delay, and operations will probably start this year. The franchise belongs to Prisbi (50%) and the company B-EV. Three family SUV models of different sizes are on the agenda, but is there also room for a small electric SUV the size of a Toyota Yaris Cross? We went to a first Israeli encounter with the Vietnamese car.

In Vietnam, there is a saying that you can spend your whole life using one company. You can be born in a ‘Vinh-Med’ hospital, take a ‘Vin’ bus to study at a ‘Vin’ school and university, live in ‘Vin’ homes, shop at ‘Vin-Mart,’ and vacation at ‘Vin-Pearl’ resorts. All these companies belong to Vingroup, estimated to be responsible for 1.6% of Vietnam’s economy. The company’s founder and chairman is Pham Nhat Vuong, the richest man in Vietnam, who in recent years has also worked on building Vietnam’s national electric car, VinFast.

VinFast was established in 2017 and, like many companies, initially learned the field by acquiring technology from established companies, mainly BMW, Magna Steyr from Austria, and Siemens from Germany, and created a partnership with General Motors for local production and marketing of small Chevrolet cars. After gaining experience, it recruited senior figures from the automotive world, began developing fully electric models, and made a bold statement about producing and marketing in Europe and the US, including building a factory in North Carolina.

To raise the required funds, VinFast was listed on NASDAQ in August 2023, and on the first trading day, the stock surged by 255%. Overnight, the company’s valuation reached $85 billion, almost double that of Ford and General Motors at the time. A week later, the stock hit an all-time high at $68 per share, in an era when the stock market saw every electric car as the next Tesla. But the following day, it began to dive, and for almost two years now, the stock has traded around $3.50 per share – a 77% drop from its peak, with a market value of $7.86 billion.

A few months earlier, in May 2023, it entered the US market. The media criticized it harshly. The model was the VF8, an electric crossover developed as an answer to the Tesla Model Y, sold at a similar price, offering dual motors with power ranging from 348 to 402 hp, and a modest declared range of about 310–471 km. The main criticism focused on the multimedia systems, assembly quality, ride comfort, and road handling.

It is important to remember that companies like VinFast do not operate like traditional automakers. For them, improving a model while it is already in production is part of the process of bringing the most up-to-date car to the market and thus outperforming traditional competitors who operate at a slower pace. Tesla operated this way in the past, and almost all Chinese automakers do today.

Since then, the model has been improved, with an additional larger model, the VF9, also marketed in Europe and the US, receiving more favorable reviews. In 2024, the company sold 97.4 thousand cars, a 120% increase compared to 2023, but still very little for a mass-market manufacturer, leading to a loss of $3.2 billion. But this is a very narrow perspective, as in general, major and more optimistic moves have taken place. Pham Nhat Vuong returned as CEO of VinFast, alongside his position as chairman of the entire group, invested his own wealth to support the company and continue development, opened another production plant in Vietnam, with a third plant soon to open in India, and also renewed plans to build the plant in South Carolina, previously halted, now planned for 2028.

Incidentally, the choice of India and the US is not random. The Indian market allows establishment in one of the world’s emerging markets, and perhaps more importantly, low-cost production to curb the entry of Chinese brands into other Asian markets like Thailand and the Philippines, and later sell to Europe. VinFast is not the only one interested in the Indian market. Suzuki has been there for a long time, as have Hyundai, Kia, and Citroën. Recently, Honda, Toyota, and Suzuki announced investments of billions of dollars to expand their local plants. The fact that it is not a Chinese manufacturer allows the company to operate in the US, the largest Western car market, with the potential to be the cheapest electric car there. Either way, it seems VinFast has recalculated its course, and only time will tell if it was the right one.

There is something cute about the VF5’s appearance. At the front, designers avoided the blank expression typical of electric cars by stretching the logo wings. In profile, there is a kind of break at the rear part of the roof – a trademark of all VinFast models – and at the back, they zigzagged the metal folds for a unique look. We liked it.

The initial feeling behind the wheel is that the designers put the driver at the center. Everything is angled toward the driver, within reach of a finger, with even the multimedia screen offering a few menus arranged logically, with large fonts, surprisingly easy to use.

But when you get into the details: The steering wheel does not adjust in any direction, the seats are too soft and do not hold well, the seating position is not comfortable enough, and rear visibility is limited due to the small window.

In front of the driver is a 7-inch digital dashboard with a simple and efficient display. In the center of the console is an 8-inch multimedia screen, easy to operate, with icons at the bottom to control the climate system, always accessible for the driver and passenger. There is one USB port at the front and one at the back, wireless Android and Apple connectivity, a smart key, and even a voice assistant that, in this case, spoke only Vietnamese. Models sold abroad feature a multilingual assistant.

The dimensions are almost identical to the Toyota Yaris Cross, with a length of 3.97 m, width of 1.72 m, height of 1.58 m, and wheelbase of 2.51 m. Despite the decent dimensions, the front is cramped on one hand due to the prominent wheel housing leaving little legroom, and on the other hand because of the console structure that interferes with the knees. This tightness is more noticeable on the passenger side but slightly affects the driver as well.

In the rear, however, there is plenty of space in all directions, more than in the Yaris Cross, with a completely flat floor making it comfortable for feet. The seats are low and too soft, so over time they are not very comfortable as the seat sinks. There are no AC vents, but there is a USB port.

The trunk offers a reasonable volume of 260 liters, slightly less than in the Yaris Cross. The rear seats split 60:40 to increase space but do not create a flat floor. There is no lighting or 12V port, but there is a spare wheel.

The car has not undergone any crash tests and offers partial safety systems including 6 airbags, blind-spot warning, rear cross-traffic alert, door opening warning when the space is not clear, stability control, hill-start assist, ISOFIX, tire pressure warning, and front seatbelt alert. What is missing? Autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning or correction, adaptive cruise control (there is normal cruise control and speed limiter).

134 hp and 13.8 kgm of torque is not much, but in a small and light electric car (1,340 kg), it is enough for purposeful movement. The start can be very quick, challenging tire grip. No one will have trouble leaving first at a traffic light and accelerating up to about 70 km/h. This remains true even with 4 passengers and some luggage. Beyond that, acceleration decreases, taking 12 seconds for the classic 0–100 km/h sprint. In Vietnam, overtaking above 90 km/h is rare, so few care unless you drive a sleeper bus.

Through the screen, using large icons, one can choose between 'Normal' and 'Sport' modes, and two levels of regenerative braking. Thanks to the simplicity, it is relatively easy, but we still prefer physical buttons. A round selector between the two seats functions as a gear shifter. It does not offer a 'P' mode; to park, shift to 'N' and pull the manual handbrake.

The car’s light weight is due to fewer batteries, and batteries mean range. The tested car had the larger 37.2 kWh battery pack, sufficient for a 326 km range according to the less strict NEDC standard. Actual range is around 270 km. There is a weaker 94 hp version with 29.6 kWh batteries and a declared range of 268 km.

Home charging rate is 7.4 kW, while VinFast does not disclose fast charging rates, only stating 10%-70% in 33 minutes. Electricity is almost free here, even at DC stations (depending on the plan), and everyone charges quickly at fast chargers.

The roads around Hanoi are unforgiving to any vehicle, and the VF5 struggles with the bumps and potholes, making the car dance uncomfortably at almost any speed.

Strangely, despite the stiffness, the car lacks restraint, creating body roll in fast turns. This is not a car for fast driving but more for city use, where maneuvering is reasonable with a 5.4-meter turning radius.

Like in Israel, a gasoline car buyer subsidizes the electric car buyer in Vietnam. The VF5 costs 520 million dong (NIS ~30,500), 40% less than the Kia Picanto in a lower category, partly due to electric vehicle tax incentives.

Focusing on hard numbers against other electric competitors, the VF5 is cheaper by similar percentages compared to BYD Dolphin Surf and Dongfeng Box (the Leapmotor T03 sold in Israel is not offered there). It also comes with an extended 7-year warranty on the car and 10 years on the battery, making it clearly attractive.

The current VF5 is a modern electric car that debuted in 2023, but this generation will not come to Israel. Perhaps the next generation, after VinFast establishes itself in Europe. Safety regulations will increase the price in Europe, but it seems it can still remain affordable, potentially changing transportation here as well.