With the continued influx of battery electric vehicle (BEV) marques and models, standing out is becoming a daunting proposition. Vietnamese BEV specialist VinFast said it is continuing to “rewrite the rules” in the segment.
VinFast Southeast Asia Chief Executive Officer Antonio “Toti” Zara III recently stated that evidence of this includes the brand’s 10-year warranty on its vehicles, the appointing of third-party service workshops, opening up future designs to the Filipino public through the “Pili-Pinas” effort, and the recent unveiling of a “Residual Value Guarantee Program.”
The newest ace up VinFast’s sleeve is an updated battery subscription policy, said to be an improvement on the previous one offered about the time the car company entered our market. “It’s a program that allows us to sell the car without the battery, then we’d lease the battery to our customers at a very affordable price,” said Zara. “What we’re doing is changing this high-value-asset purchase to an everyday utility for as low as P1,600 (a month).”
It’s now a “simplified” program, insisted the executive. There’s a purchase price without the lithium-ion battery, and a tag without one. “We’ve made sure that the subscription amounts are affordable,” he added. The immediate effect is “significantly reducing upfront investment costs and simplifying electric vehicle ownership,” said VinFast Philippines in a release. Depending on the model, cost savings hover around 20%. Here’s the complete breakdown below.
| MODEL | PRICE | MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION | ||
| Battery included | Battery subscription | ≤ 2,000 km/month | ≥ 2,000 km/ month | |
| VF 3 | P745,000 | P590,000 | P1,600 | |
| VF 5 Plus | P1.099 million | P949,000 | P1,950 | P2,900 |
| VF 6 Eco | P1.499 million | P1.249 million | P2,350 | |
| VF 6 Plus | P1.699 million | P1.409 million | P2,350 | |
| VF 7 Eco | P1.76 million | P1.43 million | P2,650 | |
| VF 7 Plus | P2.38 million | P1.55 million | P3,350 | |
| VF 9 Plus | P5.39 million | P3.845 million | P3,840 | |
Zara expressed hope that this program will convince more car browsers to get down from the fence and choose BEVs. “We’re targeting people who want to have peace of mind when making that big shift from an ICE vehicle to an EV… We would guarantee that the battery (health) will not go below 70% throughout the entire life of the vehicle. It’s also intended for customers who want to use their car for a very long time.”
Further good news: According to Zara, a VinFast buyer opting for battery subscription “can still purchase the car through financing, just like any other (vehicle).” He reported, “We have partnered with several banks which will support the program. We are guaranteeing to buy back any car that’s nonperforming; we’ll get it back. This is the B2B equivalent of our Residual Value Guarantee Program.”
The program has been described as “very successful” in Vietnam, and has now been running in Indonesia for half a year where the company is seeing an 80% acceptance rate, he added.
The executive isn’t confirming what the battery health degradation speed is but admitted that the observed rate is “very close” to two percent a year. This means it will take quite a while for battery health to get down to 70%.
Zara said that, compared to the original program, the new battery subscription policy has a more appetizing draw in its affordability. After all, the battery still proves to be the most expensive part of a BEV. Think of it as a utility, like a monthly phone bill.
Replying to a question from this writer, the VinFast leader insisted the program just makes sense. “People might not want to keep the car for 10 years, but can you imagine the impact to residual value?” He asserted, “If you sell the car, how much higher (a value) will you get? The battery subscription is transferable, so that increases the value of the car.”
For the company, it again leverages its membership in the considerable Vingroup conglomerate of Vietnam – specifically VinEnergo, a “strategic green energy subsidiary” tasked with developing large-scale solar, wind, and LNG-to-power projects. It is zooming in on renewable energy, battery storage, and carbon credits. “We’re looking at doing 20GW of renewable energy. We will need all the battery storage we can get.” This means that the VinEnergo can easily redeploy or reuse the replaced batteries. It’s a veritable win-win. “(The battery) is fully reusable – even at 70%.”
Zara said that VinFast Philippines will not be running the program indefinitely, so there should be a sense of urgency for BEV browsers looking at an ideal entry point into the segment. For more information, visit https://vinfastauto.ph/.
