CES 2024: VinFast Announces New Mid-Size Electric Pickup Truck To Compete With Tesla And Rivian
The move toward fully electric vehicles has been picking up steam for a while now, but one area that's seen considerable growth in recent years is electric trucks. Tesla's Cybertruck has been all over the news since its release, but it isn't all space-age super vehicles that have been coming out. The more conservatively designed Rivian R1T, Ford F-150 Lightning, and Chevrolet Silverado EV have also been making headlines.
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Now, the Vietnamese EV manufacturer VinFast is throwing its hat into the ring with a new mid-sized electric pickup truck called the VF Wild. The company first announced on its website in December that it would be revealing a new electric concept vehicle, and now it seems we finally know what that vehicle will be. On Tuesday, January 8, VinFast said it would showcase a prototype of this new truck during CES 2024 at the Las Vegas Convention Center alongside its new VF 3 eSUV. Now, fans have finally gotten a first look at this brand-new electric vehicle.
The VF Wild was showcased at CES
VinFast is a relatively new auto manufacturer. It was established in 2017 and declared in 2021 that it would be an exclusively electric company by 2023. VinFast's primary focus has been on SUVs until now, so it's no stranger to making heavy-duty all-terrain vehicles, though this will be its first vehicle with a flatbed.
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We were able to visit the CES 2024 showcase in person, where we got an up-close-and-personal look at the upcoming electric pickup truck and its alluring, surprisingly practical design. Unfortunately, VinFast didn't have much to say about the model — as far as the powertrain specs are concerned — but it was happy to show off the bed design, which takes a space-conserving approach. In this case, the cabin can open up to increase the bed's total length, providing up additional space for those times you need to haul around longer items. That's the same general approach taken by Fisker with its Alakas EV pickup.
Many of the electric trucks that are currently on the market are larger, so a mid-sized vehicle like VinFast's new prototype could have a competitive edge among those who prefer a tighter form factor. Fans will have to wait for performance comparisons before they can really see how the Wild stacks up against offerings from Tesla and Rivian, but the design looks promising.