Vinfast Begins Taking Orders for EVs

News: Southeast Asia

2021-05-24

Vinfast Begins Taking Orders for EVs

Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

Vinfast, an emerging Vietnamese automaker, has started taking orders for its first EV, the VFe34. The VFe34, a C-segment SUV crossover type, uses a 42kWh battery and can travel 300km on a full charge. The domestic sales price is VND 690 million(about 3.31 million yen). The battery will be provided on a subscription basis (fixed fee service). The monthly fee is set at VND 1.45 million, the same level as the cost of running on gasoline. When the battery’s charge performance drops below 70%, it can be replaced with a new one. This is said to reduce the initial cost for customers and at the same time guarantee the quality risk of the battery.

As a promotion until the end of June, the company will offer a discount of VND100 million and a free battery subscription service for one year. In addition, customers who replace their gasoline-powered cars will receive VND30 million per car from the Vin Group’s Green Future Fund. If they cancel the purchase, the deposit of 10 million dong will be fully refunded. According to Vinfast, 3,692 orders were recorded in 12 hours after the start of orders on the 24th.

Read More»

2021-04-25

PSR-HDMA Present Webinar April 21, 2021

Current and Future Supply Chain Concerns For Medium and Heavy Vehicles Will Be Discussed

Erik Martin
Erik Martin
Chris Fisher
Chris Fisher

Power Systems Research April 21, 2021, produced a one-hour webinar with the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association (HDMA) discussing current and future supply chain concerns, especially as they affect Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles. 

The presenters included:

  • Chris Fisher – Senior Commercial Vehicle Analyst, Power Systems Research
  • Erik Martin – Director, Asia Region, Power Systems Research
  • Richard Anderson – Director, Market Research & Analysis, HDMA
HDMA-PSR COVID Webinar PresentationDownload
PSR – Coronavirus Special ReportDownload

2021-03-20

China and South Korea Increase Investment in Indonesia

Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

China and South Korea are increasing their investments in Indonesia. According to BKPM (Indonesia’s Investment Coordination Agency), China (including Hong Kong) accounted for $8.4 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2020, up 11% from the previous year, and South Korea accounted for $1.8 billion, up 64%.

Japan, which has been the driving force behind investment to date, has seen a clear decline of 40% to $2.6 billion. Singapore ranked first in FDI in 2020 with $9.8 billion, followed by China and Japan in second and third place, then the European Union in fourth place, and South Korea in fifth place.

Read More»

Doosan Infracore Unveils Wheel Loader with “Transparent Bucket”

Doosan Infracore announced in March that it had introduced the industry’s first wheel loader with a “transparent bucket” function.

The transparent bucket is a system that allows the wheel loader driver to see even blind spots in front of the bucket through the monitor in the cockpit. The innovative system records images in front of the wheel loader with cameras installed at the top and bottom and shows the combined images in real time using a curved projection method.

The front of the wheel loader has been considered a major safety issue due to blind spots. With the transparent bucket function, however, the driver can easily check the blind spot in front of the bucket with a monitor to prevent safety accidents.

Read More»

2021-02-23

Tesla Proposes Investment in Indonesia to Promote EV Industry

Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

The Indonesian government announced on Feb. 5 that it had received an investment proposal from Tesla. The country is the world’s largest producer of nickel, which is essential for the production of batteries for EVs. In order to promote the EV and battery related industries, Indonesia had invited Tesla to invest in the country.

Details of the talks between Indonesia and Tesla cannot be disclosed due to confidentiality agreements, but it is said that they have mainly discussed battery and energy storage solutions. The Indonesian vice-minister said, “If Tesla only wants to buy raw materials, we are not interested. The proposal is more than the procurement of raw materials and extends to energy storage systems such as MegaPack, PowerPack and Powerwall,” he said.

Read More»

Hyundai To Custom Design EVs for each Customer

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group is launching a new business to produce EVs to order, according to customer preferences. It is designed to be used for corporate purposes such as delivery and car sharing, and the body design and loading capacity can be flexibly changed to suit the intended use.

The company will take advantage of the characteristics of EVs, which have a higher degree of freedom in design than gasoline vehicles. The company will also introduce a business model that does not involve mass production to accelerate the growth of its EV business.

Read More»

Honda Launches Electric Bike for Business

Honda announced the “GYRO e:” and “GYRO CANOPY e:” as planned commercial models of electric three-wheeled scooters for business use that use replaceable batteries. The new models will be marketed as the Honda e: Business Bike series together with the BENLY e: business electric two-wheeled scooter, which has been sold to corporate customers since April 2020.

The GYRO series will be used in many business applications such as deliveries. The GYRO series is a three-wheeled model with one wheel in the front and two in the rear to increase stability, and there is also a “CANOPY” model with a roof and wipers that can handle a little rain.

Read More»

2020-12-21

Japan Sees Hydrogen as Main Fuel by 2030

Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

The government of Japan has set a target of 10 million tons of hydrogen to be used in Japan by 2030, enough to operate more than 30 nuclear power plants. This would be more than 10% of the total electricity capacity in Japan.

It will also hasten the practical application of hydrogen power generation and accelerate the spread of FCVs. The government will provide support through a newly established 2 trillion Yen fund and tax incentives for capital investment.

Read More»

2020-11-24

Hyundai’s Unmanned Cargo Plane Concept Aims for 2026

Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

Hyundai Motor Co. has begun developing an unmanned aircraft for cargo transport and has announced the concept of “air cargo” to be commercialized in 2026. The company is already developing a personal aerial vehicle (PAV) that will be responsible for moving people around in urban areas, and this technology will be applied to cargo transport aircraft. It is envisioned as a transport aircraft that will carry more cargo than drones carrying small cargo.

Read More»