The Vietnamese newcomer company made the announcement regarding the official EPA ratings for their three-row VF9 crossover, with the more expensive Plus variant providing an estimate of 291 miles.
- VinFast, an electric vehicle (EV) startup based in Vietnam, recently disclosed the EPA range estimates for its upcoming three-row VF9 SUV model.
- The VF9 Eco is estimated to have a range of 330 miles per charge, while the Plus variant is estimated to have a range of 291 miles.
- Prices for the Eco start at $83,000 and the Plus starts at $91,000, and all of these prices are before any applicable destination costs. Deliveries are scheduled to take place during the fourth quarter of this year.
UPDATE (August 24, 23) : VinFast has confirmed to Car & Driver that the range numbers for the VF9 relate to the 123.0-kWh battery pack. The manufacturer also announced that the “Standard Range” battery, which has a capacity of 92.0 kWh, will no longer be made available for the VF9.
UPDATE (August 24, 23) : According to VinFast, who spoke with Us, the range estimates mentioned on the media website and cited in this post were in fact estimations based on the European WLTP test cycle, which has a tendency to provide more positive results than the EPA’s ratings. It is difficult to verify VinFast’s claims that the official EPA figures beat its forecasts because the automaker did not define what it had initially predicted for EPA range. This makes it difficult to validate VinFast’s assertions.
VinFast is having a good year thus far. In March, the Vietnamese automaker gave delivery of the first 45 VF8 SUVs to consumers in the state of California. VinFast successfully completed a merger with a company that specializes in acquisitions just the week before last, which made it possible for the company to be listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Since then, its stock has skyrocketed, giving the manufacturer of electric vehicles a market value that is bigger than that of Ford and General Motors combined at the time this article was written. VinFast is now working on getting its second model ready for sale in the United States, and they have just announced the official EPA range estimations for its VF9 SUV.
The estimated range of the VinFast VF9
It is anticipated that the VinFast VF9 Eco trim level will have a range of 330 miles on a single charge, while the Plus model will have a range of 291 miles. The manufacturer had stated in the past that the VF9 would be available with two different sizes of battery packs, namely a Standard Range pack and an Enhanced Range unit. It didn’t say which battery was responsible for the EPA’s anticipated results, but because VinFast claims it beat its own expectations, we infer the data is for the Standard Range. VinFast previously predicted that it would deliver between 262 and 272 miles of range with the Standard Range battery.
The first estimates for the Enhanced Range model were between 360 and 369 miles, and there is now only one battery choice listed on the consumer website for VinFast. Confusion arises from the fact that the pack described on the consumer site is a 123 kWh unit, yet the official press site refers to this battery as the Enhanced Range battery. Car and Driver contacted VinFast to get clarification on which battery pack was used to calculate these range estimations. If we receive new information, we will incorporate it into this report.
Pricing for VF9
VinFast also disclosed new pricing information for the VF9, which will begin at $83,000 for the Eco model and $91,000 for the Plus model before adding on any applicable destination fees. This is almost $6000 more than the costs that were previously reported for both variants, and it puts it on pace with the three-row Rivian R1S, which, depending on the battery pack, returns either 260 or 352 miles per charge. The market will soon be joined by the more expensive 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ, which aims to achieve a range of 450 miles. It will also have to compete with the substantially more affordable three-row Kia EV9, which is anticipated to achieve a range of up to 300 miles.
Two electric motors are driven by the power provided by the VF9’s battery, which results in a total output of 402 horsepower and 457 pound-feet of torque. According to VinFast, the VF9 can go from ten to seventy percent charged on a DC fast-charger in thirty-five minutes, and the company claims that it can accelerate from zero to sixty-two miles per hour in 6.5 seconds. VinFast has already started delivering the VF9 to clients in Vietnam, and the company plans to begin placing customers in North America behind the wheel of the three-row electric vehicle during the fourth quarter of this year.
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