The cheapest car in Vietnam appears on the street, can go 120-170km on a single charge

(Dan Tri) - The Wuling HongGuang MiniEV mini electric car was spotted on some streets in Hanoi , attracting much attention from the community as this will be the cheapest car that Vietnamese customers can choose.

At least two HongGuang MiniEVs were spotted near Hoan Kiem Lake a few days ago. Later, social media users posted pictures of similar vehicles parked near West Lake. This move shows that this mini electric car is very close to its launch date.

Wuling HongGuang MiniEV was spotted near Hoan Kiem Lake, possibly for product photography (Photo: OF).

HongGuang MiniEV is notable for promising to be the cheapest car model in Vietnam. The car uses an electric motor, belongs to the mini car segment, which is even smaller than A-class cars such as Kia Morning, Hyundai Grand i10 or Toyota Wigo. The product is assembled and distributed in our country by TMT Motors through a factory located in Hung Yen .

Sharing with the media, a representative of TMT Motors said that HongGuang MiniEV will be launched in the market with the Standard version, which comes with a 9.6kWh battery and has a maximum travel distance of 120km for a single charge. With the Advanced version, the battery pack is 13.4kWh and has a range of 170km after each full charge.

The car continued to be spotted in the West Lake area before the official launch date (Photo: OF).

The distributor representative has not announced the price but revealed that "people with an average income of 13 to 15 million VND/month also have the opportunity to access". Meanwhile, an unverified document appearing on social networks said that the Standard version has an expected price of 235 million VND and the Advanced version is 255 million VND.

Questions before the launch date

The novelty of electric vehicles in general, combined with the Vietnamese people's expectation for a cheap car model, makes HongGuang MiniEV very popular. That is why customers have many questions for this product before the official information is announced.

In Deloitte Southeast Asia’s 2023 Global Automotive Consumer Study, only 3% of Vietnamese respondents said they expected an electric vehicle to travel less than 200km on a single charge. 16% expected a range of 200-299km, while 27% expected a range of 300-399km.

TMT Motors representative shared that HongGuang MiniEV distributed in Vietnam will have a maximum range of 120km or 170km, depending on the version (Photo: OF).

Based on the above report, the HongGuang MiniEV only meets a very small part of consumers' expectations for an electric vehicle. It is unclear what standard the HongGuang MiniEV's 120-170km range is calculated by, but the actual results are usually less. It is also recommended that electric vehicles not be left with a battery below 20% and not charged to 100%.

The price has not been confirmed yet, but based on leaked information and initial product specifications, Vietnamese people still expect more. The official selling price as well as sales policy, charging stations, warranty, etc. can be announced by TMT Motors at the end of this month.

VinFast VF 3 is expected to receive deposits from September and deliver cars at the end of 2024 (Photo: VF).

Not yet officially launched, HongGuang MiniEV has faced its first challenges when VinFast announced to jump into the mini car race with the VF 3 model. It was not until September that the Vietnamese car company announced details and accepted deposits for the car and expected to deliver the car to customers by the end of 2024, but that was enough to "breathe hot air" on TMT Motors.

VinFast has a slight advantage in terms of brand and familiarity with Vietnamese customers. The extensive network of public charging stations is also a valuable point. The VinFast VF 3 itself also has better basic technical specifications than the HongGuang MiniEV, but we still have to wait for the official selling price of both cars.

dantri.com.vn