America's New 300-Mile Electric SUV Comes From An Unlikely Place

There's a good chance you've never heard of VinFast. Based in Vietnam, the startup manufacturershowed off its first two modelsat the 2018 Paris Motor Show: the LUX A2.0 sedan and the LUX SA2.0 SUV, which are based on theBMW 5 SeriesandBMW X5．

Vietnam's first mass-produced cars are powered by a BMW-sourced 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbo engine paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission producing 173 and 227 horsepower and boast attractive designs that were styled by the legendary design house Italdesign. Now, VinFast is ready to expand its lineup with its first fully electric model as soon as next year, with the US its primary market.

That's according to Reuters, who received a statement of intent from VinFast. The manufacturer also confirmed the battery cells will be manufactured bySouth Korea's LG Chem．VinFast将提出nt its first electric model, which is expected to be a crossover since the US is its target market, at the 2020 LA Auto Show this November, providing the show isn't canceled like the 2020 New York and Detroit Auto Shows. The plan is to launch a test program in January 2021 before putting the electric crossover into production by July 2021.