Green SM, the Vietnamese electric ride-hailing provider affiliated with carmaker VinFast, has deployed its first electric taxis in the United States, beginning service in Los Angeles, California, on 13 October. The launch comes a little over a month after the company entered Europe, and it makes the US the ninth market globally for the VinFast affiliate.
Customers can book rides through Green SM's mobile app, available on the App Store and Google Play, or they can alternatively call the company's hotline or hail a taxi on the street.
Launch promotions
For its US debut, Green SM is offering a 50 per cent discount, capped at 12 dollars per ride, on customers' first five trips. The company is also providing a complimentary Green Pass membership that comes with ten vouchers, each giving a 30 per cent discount capped at ten dollars per ride. The two offers form the company's launch promotion for the new market.
Hoang Thanh Hang, the CEO of Green SM in the US, described the United States as an important milestone in the company's growth journey. She said the company is not simply expanding into a new market, and that it aims to build trust with customers, drivers and local communities, one journey at a time.
A fleet based on the VinFast VF 8
Green SM runs both electric scooters and cars in its Asian markets, but in the US it uses cars only. Its Los Angeles fleet consists solely of VinFast's VF 8, a mid-size SUV and the most affordable model the brand sells in the US, priced from $39,900.
VinFast offers the VF 8 in the US in two dual-motor all-wheel-drive variants. One produces 260 kW and 500 Nm of torque, while the other delivers 300 kW and 620 Nm. Both feature an 87.7 kWh NMC battery pack, which the US Environmental Protection Agency rates at a range of 256 miles for the first variant and 235 miles for the second. Green SM has not disclosed which configuration it has chosen for its fleet, or whether it uses both.
Ownership and global footprint
Green SM was established in 2023 by Pham Nhat Vuong, chairman of Vingroup, the parent company of VinFast. The business operates only with VinFast electric vehicles and says it has provided around 850 million rides covering nearly six billion kilometres to date.
Alongside its new US operation, Green SM offers electric ride-hailing in India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos and the Philippines in Asia, and in Denmark and the Netherlands in Europe - the markets behind its European launch a little over a month before the Los Angeles rollout.