VinFast created a battery pack subscription program as an introduction card to global markets. In April, it said the VF 8 would start at $40,700, while the lowest VF 9 price would be $55,500. With the battery pack subscription, how much would these electric SUVs cost? A conversation with Le Thi Thu Thuy helped us clarify several doubts we had about the program.
The VinFast global CEO and vice chairperson told autoevolution that the prices disclosed in April already excluded the cost of the battery packs. Due to the appreciation of raw materials, the Vietnamese company had to increase these prices. Instead of $40,700, the VF 8 with the battery pack subscription now costs $42,200. If you prefer to buy the battery pack, you’ll pay $57,000 for the electric SUV. That’s a $14,800 difference for the 82-kWh battery pack. The VF 8 also has an 87.7-kWh option.
The VF 9 price in April was $55,500 with the battery pack subscription. VinFast now raised it to $57,500, with a $2,000 increase. Customers who prefer to buy the 92-kWh battery pack with their electric SUVs will disburse $76,000 each. In other words, the battery pack adds $18,500 to the final price. The VF 9 also has a 123-kWh component.
Although that does not mean that this is what VinFast will charge for a 92-kWh battery pack replacement, it is a good reference for comparison. Tesla charges $20,000 or more to replace battery packs not covered under warranty.
Photo: VinFast
In Europe, the VF 8 costs €46,050 under the subscription plan. Adding the battery pack to the purchase makes VinFast slap a €62,200 price tag on the electric SUV. In other words, the battery pack theoretically costs €16,150. With the VF 9, the subscription plan makes it start at €62,750. Include the battery pack, and the price jumps to €82,950, with a €20,200 difference.
The main question about the subscription plan is if it is good business. When VinFast announced it, it would offer it in two modes worldwide: Flexible or Fixed. The Flexible Plan would charge $35 for the VF 8 and $44 for the VF 9 if owners did not travel more than 310 miles (500 kilometers) per month. If they eventually exceeded that limit (which most will), they would have to pay $0.11 per mile for the VF 8 and $0.15 for the VF 9. The Fixed Plan allowed unlimited range charging $110 for the VF 8 and $160 for the VF 9. Like the prices, that changed too.
VinFast does not talk about the Flexible plan on its websites anymore. In her interview with autoevolution, Thuy suggested it is no longer offered. The websites just mention the Fixed plan, which costs $169 for the VF 8 and $219 for the VF 9. These prices will be permanent for the product’s lifetime and “automatically transferred to the new owner after the vehicle is sold.” But there is a catch: these prices are only valid for orders placed until December 31, 2022.
Photo: VinFast
The previous conditions made it not worth buying the battery pack with the VF 8. At $110 per month, you’d spend $1,320 in a year. Considering the 10-year warranty period (or 125,000 miles, whatever comes first), that would be $13,200. Most customers will not keep the car for that long.
With the new prices, the yearly expense with the VF 8 is $2,028. In ten years, that’s $20,280, or $5,480 more than purchasing the battery pack right off the bat.
Curiously, the old subscription prices for the VF 9 already made buying the battery pack a better decision (in theory). Paying $160 monthly, you’d spend $1,920 per year. In ten years, that would be $19,200, more than the $18,500 price difference that exists when you buy the battery pack compared to the subscription. If you pay $219 per month, that’s $2,628 yearly or $26,280 in ten years.
Photo: VinFast
We said buying might be a better decision than subscribing because that’s not exactly how it works with electric cars. By subscribing to the component, the vehicle owner makes sure to always have a battery pack in perfect shape. If it presents any problems or drops below 70% of capacity, VinFast will replace it at no cost. If you have to buy one to keep your EV running, you may prefer to sell to the junkyard what is left of it – a perfectly fine vehicle apart from the battery pack.
In Europe, VinFast will charge €120 for the VF 8 in the Fixed subscription plan and €150 for the VF 9 in the same conditions and also only for orders placed until the end of 2022. We did not have early prices for the battery pack subscription on the Old Continent.
Photo: VinFast
If you pay €120 per month with the VF 8, that’s €1,440 in a year and €14,400 in ten years. In other words, subscribing to the battery pack in Europe for the VF 8 pays off: you save €1,750. With the VF 9, you keep even more money in your pocket: €2,200. That’s the difference between the €20,200 you pay for the larger electric SUV with the battery pack versus the €18,000 the subscription program will cost you in ten years at €150 per month.
Why does VinFast want American customers to buy the battery pack and those in Europe to subscribe to it? Unfortunately, we only discovered that after our interview with Thuy. We’ll ask her again about that, but do not miss our conversation with VinFast’s global CEO: you can read everything right here.
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