EVDigest: Too VinFast and Furious?

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In this week's issue: 

FEATURE: Too VinFast and Furious? VinFast lands a SPAC along with some terrible reviews.🚨 Making News: Stellantis Canada, Fisker Pear and Polestar 3 delay, Musk hiring review🇪🇺 Europe Electrified: Cariad execs fired, Zeekr in Europe, Ford's new EV, Northvolt plant🧧 China Report: Tesla Shanghai output, China exports, Ford reduction

Too VinFast and Furious?

As Adam Ismail writes in Jalopnik: “Critis Agree: The VinFast V8 is Very, Very Bad”. Kevin Williams, who was flown to Vietnam to drive the company’s first EV for the U.S. market, put it another way: “The VinFast VF8 is simply not ready for America”.

The less-than-stellar reviews come just as VinFast announced plans to merge in a SPAC deal with Black Spade Acquisition Co. After the merger, VinFast will have an enterprise value of approximately $27 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of this year.

There is a lot at stake for America’s newest EV entrant. The company shipped its first 999 EVs to California in November but only began handing over vehicles to customers on March 1 (it also slashed initial lease customers’ monthly payments in half to $399 a month). To date, VinFast’s founder, affiliates and lenders have deployed $8.2 billion to fund the company’s EV operating expenses and capital expenditures over the past six years.

🚨 Making News 🚨

Stellantis Halts Construction of Canada EV Battery Module Plant with LG. Stellantis has temporarily halted the construction of its EV battery module plant in Canada, the company said Monday. The decision with LG Energy to halt the $3.7 billion plant, slated to begin operations in August 2024, comes as the companies continue to spar with Ottawa over promises made regarding federal funding.

Fisker Pear Delayed to 2025 as Company Finalizes Battery Supplier. Fisker announced that the launch of its next electric SUV, the Fisker Pear, will be delayed until 2025 as it finalizes its battery supplier. Fisker spoke to Autocar: “Our next vehicle will start probably under £28,000, and it will be quite radical. In fact, it’s so radical that we actually have to make some new production methods.”

Foxconn Says Lordstown Plant Useful No Matter How Dispute Ends. Foxconn Chairman Young Liu expressed that the Lordstown Ohio plant would be useful regardless of how the companies' dispute ends. In early May, Lordstown warned that it might have to cease operations after Foxconn said it was prepared to back out of its production partnership. Foxconn invested up to $170 million in Lordstown last year and acquired the plant for $230 million.

EV Startups Are Still Low on Cash, Q1 Financials Show. The Q1 results are rolling in, revealing just the extent to which many EV startups are facing cash constraints. Nikola Motors had just three months of cash on hand at the end of the quarter. Lucid similarly had a bit more than three months to cover operating expenses, and Lordstown had nine months. Arrival's cash on hand slid 37% from the end of December.

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