Just launched in the United States and Canada, the new VinFast VF8 which is coming soon to France reveals new information about it. We now know its consumption, which is very high. But some media announce that it consumes more than a Hummer or an electric pick-up. This is false and we explain why.
Founded in 2018, VinFast is a young Vietnamese brand that should gain momentum over the next few years. Its CEO has announced that it wants to sell no less than 50,000 cars in the world this yearagainst just over 7,000 in 2022. For this, the manufacturer already has a full range, whose deliveries are just beginning.
Disappointing numbers
Last October, during the Paris Motor Show, we were able to get on board the new VF7 and the big VF9. But the firm obviously does not intend to stop there, since it aims to compete with Tesla. This is how it has just started deliveries of its VF8, another electric SUV that we were able to take over in Vietnam. The latter is now available in the United States and Canada.
The opportunity to learn a little more about this newcomer, first model in the range to be delivered to customers. The site’s journalists Motor Illustrated were able to obtain new information on the latter, in particular with regard to its consumption.
And it’s far from glorious, on the contrary. Indeed, the version called Eco displays figures between 26.4 and 29.5 kWh/100 km in the city and on the highway as can be seen via the US government’s EPA sheet, available via the Google cache as of May 17.
By way of comparison, the consumption of the new Cadillac Lyriq oscillates between 21.8 and 25.8 kWh/100 km, with in addition a higher autonomy displayed at 494 kilometers, according to the American EPA cycle, closer to reality than the European WLTP. The VinFast VF8 is content with 333 kilometers in EPA, against more than 450 km on the WLTP cycle. A figure which had however been improved compared to the first measurement, which announced only 288 kilometers and which was obviously very disappointing.
As you can imagine, the figures are even higher for the Plus version which currently tops the SUV range, only sold in the City Edition launch finish. In effect, the VF8 is homologated with a consumption of 26 kWh / 100 km on the combined cycle as can be checked on the EPA sheet for this version, also available through Google cache.
Higher consumption than a Hummer EV, really?
By way of comparison, the big and heavy electric pickup, the Ford F-150 Lightning, announces an average of 31.5 kWh/100 km. A Tesla Model Y Grande Autonomie claims an average of 17.4 kWh / 100 km on the combined cycle according to the European standard. Its big sister, the Tesla Model X climbs to 20.5 kWh / 100 km.
The consumption of VinFast VF8 is therefore particularly high, but not as much as the Canadian media would have us believe. The latter announced a higher consumption than the Hummer EV, yet the champion of its category as we had seen in a detailed article on the subject, with a consumption of approximately 50 kWh / 100 km. It just looks like the media made a conversion error.
As for the WLTP standard, we are still awaiting approval from the Vietnamese manufacturer in Europe. For the moment, we have the autonomy estimates: 447 km in the Plus version and 471 km in the Eco version.
Several versions on the program
For now, the new VinFast VF8 is available in a single finish and two engines, as American journalists remind us. The first is therefore the Eco variant, which embeds two electric motors developing a cumulative power of 349 horsepower and 500 Nm of torque. It is able to achieve the 0 to 100 km / h in about 6.5 seconds, against 6.9 seconds for the Tesla Model Y Propulsion.
For its part, the Plus version is also equipped with two motors, one on the front axle and one at the rear, but displays a much higher power. This is displayed at 402 horsepower for a torque of around 620 Nm. As a result, performance is obviously up, with a 0 to 100 km/h which only takes 5.5 seconds. A value closer to the Model Y Long Autonomy than Performance, which displays only 3.7 seconds.
But the Vietnamese SUV is not the only one to be a little disappointing when it comes to its technical data sheet. This is also the case of the VF6 and VF7, also present at the Mondial although not yet marketed. Indeed, the first displays an autonomy included between 381 and 399 kilometers according to the WLTP cycle thanks to its 59.6 kWh battery, with a fairly high theoretical consumption of 15.6 kWh/100 km.
The manufacturer will therefore have to find other arguments to attract customers, while it plans to open no less than 50 showrooms in Europe. He is betting in particular on his pricing policy, when he recently lowered the prices of his cars in order to follow Tesla. A compulsory passage in order to face the growing Chinese competition.
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