Closing the driver’s door in the VinFast VF 9, I feel like I am in an expensive Mercedes-Benz. The soft close is something I normally don’t find on a car of this kind. And the moment I look ahead, I immediately notice the massive air intake going through the car’s hood and straight into the front bumper. From the get-go, it’s clear this large EV is trying to do things differently.
But is it enough for this VinFast to woo carbuyers away from strong competitors, such as the Hyundai IONIQ 9 or the Kia EV9?
VinFast has bold ambitions. Not only is it trying to penetrate the North American market as the first Vietnamese automaker, but it’s also doing it solely with electric vehicles (EVs), a category of cars that has lost momentum in recent months.
Blame that on high prices and melting government incentives, both in Canada and south of the border. But, also, a generalized backlash against EVs, often politically driven. VinFast has obviously chosen to play this game in hard mode.
With the three-row VF 9, the automaker is pushing its bold ambitions a step further by entering the most competitive of arenas: that of the fully electric, three-row SUV. There aren’t many choices for carbuyers, but those there are are good.
With a $77,308-starting-price, the VinFast VF 9 Eco is definitely not inexpensive. It dares to present itself as a premium vehicle, facing even tougher contenders in the form of the Cadillac VISTIQ and Tesla Model X.
Let’s begin with a real strength of the VF 9: styling. Penned by Italian design firm Pininfarina, this is hands-down the most attractive model in this class. There’s a confident, purposeful front fascia, accentuated by a set of quad LED headlights. The large V-shape grille is bold and distinctive, and that aforementioned air intake — it’s there to improve high-speed stability — looks plain cool. (Good luck wiping snow off of it after a hefty blizzard!)
The VF 9 borrows proportions from a station wagon, not an SUV. It is low to the ground, sleek, stretched rearward, and everything tapers off in a clean, modern and somewhat understated rear end.
This is a good-looking car.
On the technical side, the VF 9 doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel; it chooses a more conservative approach. Its battery, a liquid-cooled lithium-ion unit, offers a rather high capacity of 123 kWh, allowing two electric motors (for all-wheel-drive) to churn out a respectable, but not game-changing, 402 combined horsepower and 457 pounds-feet of torque (motive force).
Such a configuration leads to an advertised range figure of 518 kilometres, which is competitive. Sadly, the VF 9’s DC fast-charging performance, at 160 kW, is not. To put things into perspective, Hyundai and Kia EVs these days pull north of 200 kW.
The VF 9 rides smoothly. This is one of the plushest rides I’ve witnessed in a large, heavy EV. Clearly VinFast engineers know what they’re doing. The interior is vast, spacious and the rear door openings are massive, which is great for getting kids and all their gear in and out of the car.
The VF 9 eliminates most elements of the dashboard. As it is in a Tesla, everything is controlled via a large central screen. VinFast at least leaves a heads-up display for vital information, such as speed and navigation. The interface, itself, is clean, quick to respond and rather easy to comprehend. Additional apps can also be downloaded into the system, and the system is all compatible with over-the-air updates for constant improvements.
If this VinFast was the first in its category, it could have had a chance to lead the pack. But because the vehicles it’s up against are so good, the VF 9’s flaws quickly become a problem. It’s also obvious that this is a new automaker, and that some aspects of the VF 9 still need to be ironed out.
For instance, while its 926 litres of default cargo space (all seats in place) amounts to a large number, the VF 9 is dwarfed by the Kia EV9’s 1,232 litres. VinFast obviously borrows its blinker and wiper stalks from BMW, but, somehow, they don’t operate with the same kind of fluidity, which forced me, at times, to aggressively hit the stalks for something to happen. There’s constant tire roll being heard in the cabin at high speed, as well as a high-pitch winding noise that can only come from the electric motors. Weird.
My vehicle was plagued with minor, but irritating, glitches. Window actuators only worked when they wanted to, and I stopped counting the number of times the central screen told me it was impossible to lower a window. The audio system’s sound quality was quite a letdown, with one speaker grille staying in my hand when I dared to tap on it to evaluate its build quality. The proximity key only worked half the time, forcing me to manually lock the doors using the fob.
All of this will undoubtedly be corrected through updates. And with a 10-year, 200,000-km warranty on the entire vehicle, and a 10-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty on the battery, it could be enough for entice consumers to the showroom.
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