I said I would never buy an EV but...

[Hawk256]

It appears that even old stubborn people can change their mind. My biggest hold out on buying an EV was battery replacement and resale price if I wasn't happy with my purchase. Also tested the cheap Wuling that a relative had bought and even though I'm not a tall guy, I kept bumping my head and felt like I was in a go kart. 12 inch tires? Really? Anyway, along comes Vinfast with a battery subscription model and a guaranteed buy back price after one year. Even the small VF 3 has 16 inch tires and is big enough to get in and out of easily. Here is where it gets interesting. Total OTR with battery subscription is 152 million plus 250 thousand per month with unlimited mileage. If you want to take your chances with the battery it's 192 million OTR with no monthly fee. 90% guaranteed buy back at 1 year and 1 year 0% interest through CIMB Finance. Hard deal to turn down if you are even a little interested in an EV as a second vehicle (or first in certain circumstances). Haven't taken delivery yet but I will be sure to post some first impressions and updates as to whether or not I think I made a good decision.

 

[jstar]

 

[gemima]

It appears that even old stubborn people can change their mind. My biggest hold out on buying an EV was battery replacement and resale price if I wasn't happy with my purchase. Also tested the cheap Wuling that a relative had bought and even though I'm not a tall guy, I kept bumping my head and felt like I was in a go kart. 12 inch tires? Really? Anyway, along comes Vinfast with a battery subscription model and a guaranteed buy back price after one year. Even the small VF 3 has 16 inch tires and is big enough to get in and out of easily. Here is where it gets interesting. Total OTR with battery subscription is 152 million plus 250 thousand per month with unlimited mileage. If you want to take your chances with the battery it's 192 million OTR with no monthly fee. 90% guaranteed buy back at 1 year and 1 year 0% interest through CIMB Finance. Hard deal to turn down if you are even a little interested in an EV as a second vehicle (or first in certain circumstances). Haven't taken delivery yet but I will be sure to post some first impressions and updates as to whether or not I think I made a good decision.

Interested to hear how you get on!

 

[Jaime C]

As a Vinfast shareholder, I salute you!

It looks like an interesting model.

 

[Hawk256]

As a Vinfast shareholder, I salute you!

It looks like an interesting model.

The battery subscription model and guaranteed buy back are what sold me to at least dip my toe in the water on the cheap one. 152 million isn't much more than a high cc motorbike. Still don't see myself buying a high end model or not having a ICE as well. They also are offering free charging on their chargers until 2028 but that didn't really affect my decision. It may be important to some people though.

 

[Hawk256]

I just realized that I put this in the classified section. I have some updates but don't want to clog up the wrong section. Can a mod move this to the correct location?

 

[Hawk256]

I will go ahead and add my comments before the pile up to much, maybe the mods will move soon.

On the first day of ownership we were able to test the ALB and traction control thanks to some suicidal motorbike riders. Luckily for all of us, we somehow missed each other. +1. Changed at quick charger at McDonalds. Went from 20% to 100% in a little less than 30 minutes. +2 Cost was 50,000 IDR which seems to be the minimum for that particular charger. Some will be less. +3 Needed a 4400 watt upgrade to the meter that was running this charger. The charger alone pulls 3500 watts. Cost was 3 Million IDR including PLN fees. Should let me charge to full in ~5 hours or so and a cost of ~35000 IDR. Still haven't needed to use it yet. Maybe in another day or so.

Found out that working on an EV is a lot like working on a computer. You have to reboot before starting troubleshooting. Had a small problem with no air coming out of one of the vents. The dealer came out to me so that he take the car in for service if needed. He did a reset of the car in the driveway and the vent started working. Very strange.

So far we are very happy with the purchase. I will definitely keep the thread updated.

 

[Hawk256]

Had the nieces over today. 2 of which have the Wuling Air EV. They seem to really like the Vinfast and commented that it "felt more like a real car" than the Wuling. I'm not saying to rush out and buy one but don't figure that all inexpensive EVs are the same like I did.

 

[jstar]

The Wuling is obviously somewhat older. That can be bad and good. It would not use the newest technology but child diseases are gone; it got some improvements and a light facelift this year.

Something else to consider is obviously the company, its (financial) stability and presence (warranty and maintenance) in the country. Vinfast (Vietnamese) has done great efforts esp. in the taxi market; you see the azure blue cars everywhere in Jakarta and they plan the same for Bali. Wuling has a ‘GM history’ and a big presence in the country. I would be very hesitant to buy either brand in Europe but no issues in RI.

It‘s gonna be an interesting test case.

 

[Hawk256]

Found out today that the Vinfast is RWD instead of FWD like the Wuling Air. With traction control it shouldn't make much of a handling difference but the use of RWD will allow a more robust drive train and simple front end and suspension. Not sure if it will make much a difference in the long run but it is another difference that I hadn't even thought about.

 

[jstar]

Vinfast (Vietnamese) has done great efforts esp. in the taxi market; you see the azure blue cars everywhere in Jakarta and they plan the same for Bali. Wuling has a ‘GM history’ and a big presence in the country. I would be very hesitant to buy either brand in Europe but no issues in RI.

So the roll-out of the Vinfast electric cars in Bali by Green SM has started. It seems they have 200 cars now on the island.

I took this taxi a couple of times and it’s (currently) much cheaper than Grab or Go. Quite a lot of space in the back and less noise of course. No rattling and good (fake leather) seats. The only perceived disadvantage was the lack of an independent AC in the back.