What We’re Reading
August 4, 2022
EV Startup VinFast Hits the U.S., Opens First Showrooms In California (WSJ, August 1, 2022)
“Vietnam’s Vingroup JSC became a corporate juggernaut in its home country, operating everything from luxury resorts to hospitals, shopping malls, and supermarkets. Now, it wants to break into the U.S. car market with a little-known electric-vehicle startup, VinFast, which has a novel way of pricing its models.”
Two models will be available in the U.S.: the VF 8, a midsize SUV, starting at $40,700; and the larger VF9, starting at $55,500. How does Vingroup plan to manage this lower price point? The company will lease its batteries for a fee of $35-$160/month, depending on the owner’s anticipated driving needs and other variables. This monthly lease fee provides for maintenance and replacement of the battery (at below 70% of original capacity).
“VinFast has said the battery leasing model brings the upfront price of its vehicles down $15,000 to $20,000, roughly on par with what many gasoline-powered models sell for today. The company also said it eliminates risk for the consumer because the service covers all repairs, maintenance and replacement costs, including swapping out the battery for a new one.”
Like Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid, Vingroup will sell directly to consumers rather than through dealerships. It has six “showrooms” in California and plans to continue to expand there before branching out to other states. It will be the first Vietnamese company to sell cars in the United States.
Read more about VinFast here.
Ford Owners Have Now Driven 10 Million Miles Hands-Free (CarBuzz, July 30, 2022)
Since launching a year ago, Ford’s BlueCruise automated driving technology has become increasingly popular among drivers, allowing them to operate “hands free” on 130,000 miles of U.S. highways. The technology is available on some model year Mustang Mach-E and F-150 vehicles, and via Ford’s “Power-Up” over the air software updates, assuming the right package is purchased. Ford reports that 66,500 Ford drivers are using BlueCruise, with more expected in the coming months.
“Just last month, a total of 4.5 million miles had been covered by BlueCruise users. Remarkably, that has since doubled to an astonishing 10.6 million, which highlights the ever-growing popularity of semi-autonomous technology. Ford's data shows most of the hands-free highway driving happens between Dallas and Houston, Cape Canaveral and Ft. Lauderdale, as well as Salt Lake City and Las Vegas.”
Read more about BlueCruise here.
Gatik’s autonomous fleet is providing driverless trucks can make roads safer (Freightwaves, July 29, 2022)
When NHTSA released its ADS and ADAS collision data earlier this year, Gatik trucking company was not included in the report. “The company has not had a single reportable incident, maintaining an impeccable safety record across its commercial deployment sites, which include Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana in the U.S., as well as Ontario, Canada.”
Gatik bills itself as “the market leader in autonomous middle-mile delivery.” Last year, it rolled out the country’s first fully driverless commercial delivery service for Walmart in Arkansas, and plans to expand driverless service on other routes. Gatik’s proprietary, autonomous approach relies partly on a constrained operational design domain and predictable routes. While driverless, the vehicles are monitored by a passenger as well as a remote supervisor.
“Inherently, autonomous vehicles have a leg up compared to human drivers because they don’t fall victim to external factors that impede performance among some drivers. Autonomous vehicles do not get tired, consume substances that impair driving ability, drive beyond the speed limit, become distracted or disobey the rules of the road. Autonomous vehicles continuously monitor their local environments, developing awareness and predictions about what other roadway users may do, and are designed to rapidly execute the safest maneuver should the need arise.”
Read more about Gatik here.