Vietnamese EV automaker VinFast set the tone at the Las Vegas Convention Center this morning, detailing the first product announcement of day one in the West Hall. In addition to officially launching its line of Drgn Fly E-Bikes, VinFast shared plans to sell its ultra-compact VF 3 globally, and pulled the sheet off a pickup truck concept called the VF Wild.
VinFast has come a long way since it presented its lineup of Vietnamese-built EVs in front of the crowd at CES 2023 last year, with plenty of ups and downs. That is to be expected when you’re operating at the speed the VinGroup-owned automotive subsidiary operates. At times, it’s baffling.
We saw the debut of the VF 5, reported billions in new funding to keep pushing forward, and even drove the VF 8 City Edition last year… before they were recalled. Since then, we’ve seen deliveries grow, and the young automaker turned some heads with the debut of an electric mini SUV called the VF 3 – originally priced under $20,000 – last June.
While the model was originally slotted for the Vietnamese market, interest from other regions sparked rumors that VinFast was considering selling the VF 3 in the US. Today, the automaker confirmed the VF 3 will now be sold as a global EV model, and was joined on stage by VinFast’s latest concept EV – the VF Wild pickup.
Oh, the Jabbawokeez were there too.
VinFast to sell VF 3 globally, debuts its first electric pickup
In front of a crowd at CES 2024, VinFast confirmed it will now sell the VF 3 mini SUV globally, just six months after unveiling the EV for Vietnam. Sitting atop 16-inch wheels, the VF 3 measures in at a modest L125.6 x W66.1 x H63.8 inches, designed with young city drivers in mind.
It also offers 125 miles of range on a single charge. Per VinFast Global’s Deputy CEO of Sales and Marketing, Ms. Tran Mai Hoa:
With the global launch of the VF 3, we are pleased to introduce a new electric car in our range. More importantly, we are providing a new companion for a generation of young drivers who value practicality alongside personality. The VF 3 aims to unbound the imagination of urban mobility that is not only sustainable but also accessible for everyone.
Details remain slim at this point, but other features in the VF 3 include a 10-inch infotainment screen fitted with Android Auto and Apple Carplay, and a folding second-row allow for more cargo space (total capacity of 550 liters).
VinFast states that early reservations for the VF 3 will begin sometime in 2024, and those timings plus delivery windows will follow. Other pertinent details like pricing and warranty policies have also yet to be shared. As we previously reported, the initial pricing announced for Vietnam converted to approximately $20,000 – but that could certainly change.
Following the VF 3 announcement, VinFast introduced the Jabbawockeez dance crew, who shuffled over to what could perhaps be the star of the automaker’s show this morning, its new pickup concept. Check it out:
The VF Wild remains a concept but is described as VinFast as its first attempt at an electric pickup model and a design example of its goal to expand its product range to suit a wider audience. With dimensions of 209 inches (5324mm) in length and a width of 79 inches (1997mm), the VF Wild falls into the mid-size pickup category. It comes equipped with
The VF Wild remains a concept but is described as VinFast as its first attempt at an electric pickup model and a design example of its goal to expand its product range to suit a wider audience. With dimensions of 209 inches (5324mm) in length and a width of 79 inches (1997mm), the VF Wild falls into the mid-size pickup category.
It comes equipped with a bed length that can expand from 5- to 8-feet when its rear seats are automatically folded down automatically. Despite it remaining a concept, VinFast is hailing VF Wild as the largest bed in its segment. Ms. Tran Mai Hoa once again spoke:
We’re very proud to introduce the VF Wild concept, which encapsulates our mission to make sustainable, high-quality electric vehicles accessible to a broader market. This is not just a new product in our offering – it showcases our aspiration to venture into the fast-paced and thriving electric pickup truck market.
There are no immediate plans to bring the VF Wild to production, but someone at VinFast on the floor at CES told Electrek that the goal is to eventually deliver a production pickup evolved from today’s concept on display. Here’s a video of the unveiling. What do you guys think?
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The State of Michigan has announced a new partnership with wireless EV charging specialist Electreon and Commercial EV manufacturer Xos, Inc. Together, the companies have secured funding from the state to expand wireless charging availability for commercial vehicles, including UPS trucks in Detroit.
It’s been nearly a year since the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), the City of Detroit, and Electreon ($ELWS) unveiled the first wireless EV charging roadway in the United States.
Michigan installed Electreon’s wireless inductive-charging coils (seen below) on 14th Street in Detroit between Marantette and Dalzelle streets to charge EVs equipped with Electreon receivers as they drive on the road.
At the time. MDOT and Detroit officials said the road would be used to test and perfect Electreon’s wireless EV charging technology in a real-world environment before “making it available to the public in the next few years.”
While the public will not be able to take advantage of wireless charging just yet, commercial EVs are gaining access thanks to a new partnership between Electreon, Xos ($XOS), and the State of Michigan.
Michigan progresses as US wireless EV charging leader
When Michigan announced the first wireless EV charging road in the US last year, officials shared hopes that the Great Lakes State and the city of Detroit could become leaders in the innovation and and deployment of such nascent technology.
Following a press release from Electreon, the State of Michigan confirmed details of the new partnership, which now includes commercial EV developer Xos, Inc. as well. The new commercial partnership is supported by $200,000 in funding from the Michigan Mobility Funding Platform (MMFP), building off the state’s “Make it in Michigan: economic strategy, developed by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) to invest in the state’s people, places and projects.
Through the partnership and coinciding state funding, Electreon will extend its wireless EV charging network and use cases in Michigan. Additionally, Electreon’s technology will be integrated into delivery step vans from Xos in order to “demonstrate wireless charging technological value and its potential to lower the total cost of ownership (TCO) in the electrification of commercial truck fleets.” Stefan Tongur, vice president of business development for Electreon, elaborated:
We’re excited to demonstrate how Electreon’s technology can optimize electric fleet usage and showcase the seamless integration of wireless charging into daily fleet operations, minimizing downtime and enabling charging across time and location. We’re proud to do this work in Michigan, a state fostering innovation and sustainable transportation solutions.
In addition to expanding wireless charging on Detroit’s first “electric roadway,” the Michigan project will enable the installation of stationary wireless charging at a UPS facility in Detroit. Xos co-founder and CEO Dakota Semler also spoke:
We are proud to partner with Electreon and support UPS to demonstrate the potential of wireless charging in commercial fleets. This innovative approach will revolutionize how we power our electric vehicles and drive fleet electrification forward.
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The iconic British luxury automaker is undergoing a major brand overhaul. With its official debut around the corner, Jaguar’s electric 4-door GT, the first of its new series, was spotted testing on British roads. The new images give us a closer look at what we can expect from the revamped Jag brand.
Jaguar’s new electric GT makes its first appearance
After building internal combustion-powered sports cars for over 75 years, Jaguar will become an all-electric luxury brand from 2025.
The company announced earlier this year that it will start fresh with an entirely new range of EVs. After killing off the F-Type, E-Pace, XF, and soon the F-Pace SUV, we are finally getting our first look at what the new branding will look like.
Jaguar’s new electric 4-door GT was caught testing on British roads. The camouflaged prototypes reveal a radically different look than the Jag models we are accustomed to.
You can see one of the biggest changes is the low-riding, extended silhouette, as opposed to the crossover SUV and sedan models like the F-Type and I-Pace, Jaguar’s first EV.
The front and rear bumper designs also appear much more aggressive and bold than previous models.
Jaguar’s electric GT is being put through the paces ahead of its debut. It has already completed tens of thousands of testing miles (virtual and real-world) and will soon hit public streets worldwide.
The new model will be built in Solihull, UK, where Jaguar recently ended production of its gas-powered models.
It will be the first to ride on Jaguar’s new JAE (Jaguar Electric Architecture), which will underpin its upcoming lineup of high-end luxury EVs with prices over £100,000 ($130,000). The electric GT will have a range of over 434 miles (700 km) and upwards of 575 hp, making it Jaguar’s most powerful car of all time.
Jaguar will debut its Design Vision Concept at Miami Art Week on December 2, 2024. Next Summer, it’s expected to make its official global debut ahead of deliveries in 2026.
What do you think of Jaguar’s new design based on what’s shown? Are you excited about the brand overhaul? Let us know in the comments below.
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Tesla has pushed a new (Supervised) Full Self-Driving update with the promised end-to-end neural networks for highway driving.
However, it’s only for newer vehicles.
“End-to-end” is what Tesla refers to as neural net-powered AI driving the vehicle from vision to controls rather than the controls being explicitly coded. It’s already the case in all widely released versions of (Supervised) Full Self-Driving (FSD) for city driving, but not for highway driving, which uses another software stack.
Tesla originally planned to deliver it for highway driving in October, but it was only delivered to a small number of vehicles.
In its latest AI roadmap, Tesla said that it would come the first week of November instead.
Now, Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s head of self-driving and AI, said that the latest release with end-to-end highway driving (v12.5.6.3) has been widely pushed to HW4 vehicle owners:
With the latest release (v12.5.6.3), FSD is using end-to-end neural networks for driving across highways, city streets and parking lots, and has now shipped widely for AI4 vehicles. Highway driving should be smoother, more natural and even safer than the previous explicit control stack. Check out the different driving styles to set speed and lane change preferences. Enjoy and let Tesla AI know if you have any feedback.
However, there’s no word for the millions of HW3 vehicle owners.
In fact, the only thing promised to HW3 vehicles, which Tesla now called AI3, in its last roadmap is this:
Improved v12.5.x models for AI3 city driving
As we have often reported this year, Tesla has reached the limits of the HW3 computer and now needs to optimize the code with every release despite still being far from its promise of unsupervised self-driving.
Electrek’s Take
This is annoying cause I could really use end-to-end on my HW3 car. I am on v12.5.4.2 and it has been a regression from v12.5.4.1 for me, especially on highways.
Yesterday, it almost drove me off-road when taking my highway exit, which is always a bit shaky because it is a short exit and FSD often swings itself into it. It’s a bit awkward, and my girlfriend never likes it, so I disengage FSD before taking the exit when she was with me, but this time, she wasn’t, and I had the new update.
It again swung left before going right into the exit, but this time, it went way too far, and I was in the shoulder by the time I took control.
I took this exit hundreds of times with FSD and it’s the first time it did that.
I am starting to think we won’t see much more improvements to FSD with HW3 cars and there’s no retrofit computer in sight.
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