CarBrandLogos archive · VinFast · 2021

VinFastVF e34

Vietnam's first home-built electric SUV, sold with the battery on subscription.

Photo: Ethan Llamas · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in VinFast history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the VinFast VF e34, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The VF e34, launched in 2021, was VinFast's first electric production car and the vehicle that marked the company's turn away from petrol. It is a subcompact crossover with a single front-mounted motor driving the front wheels — deliberately conventional, aimed at Vietnamese buyers moving out of scooters and small imported cars.

Newone - Hung An - VinFast 2020 · Nguyễn Khánh Hưng · CC BY-SA 4.0

Design and engineering

The commercially interesting part was the sales model. VinFast offered the car with the battery leased separately on a monthly subscription rather than sold with the vehicle, which cut the purchase price substantially and shifted responsibility for degradation onto the manufacturer. Few makers outside China have tried it at scale.

VinFast VFe34 rear view · Tttrung · CC BY-SA 4.0

In production

Sold principally at home, where VinGroup's existing retail and property presence gave it distribution advantages no other new entrant had, the e34 established the company as an EV manufacturer before the more ambitious export models arrived.

At a glance