Green SM, the Vietnamese electric ride-hailing provider, has begun operating in the United States, deploying its first electric taxis in Los Angeles, California, on 13 October. The launch comes a little over a month after the company entered Europe and marks the ninth market for the VinFast affiliate worldwide.
Riders in Los Angeles can book trips through the Green SM mobile app, available on the App Store and Google Play, or through more traditional channels by calling the company's hotline or hailing a taxi on the street.
To mark the launch, Green SM is offering a 50 per cent discount capped at 12 dollars per ride on a customer's first five trips. It is also providing a complimentary Green Pass membership that includes ten vouchers, each giving a 30 per cent discount capped at ten dollars per ride.
Hoang Thanh Hang, the CEO of Green SM in the U.S., described the market entry as a significant step, saying the United States represents an important milestone in the company's growth journey. She added that the company aims to build trust with customers, drivers and local communities one journey at a time.
While Green SM runs both electric scooters and cars in its Asian markets, it is using only cars in the U.S. Its Los Angeles fleet consists solely of the VinFast VF 8, a mid-size SUV that is the brand's most affordable model in the United States, with a starting price of 39,900 dollars.
VinFast sells the VF 8 in the U.S. in two dual-motor all-wheel-drive variants: one producing 260 kW and 500 Nm of torque, and another rated at 300 kW and 620 Nm. Both use an 87.7 kWh NMC battery pack, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rates at 256 miles of range for the former and 235 miles for the latter. Green SM has not disclosed which configuration its fleet uses, or whether it uses both.
VinFast's parent company, Vingroup, established Green SM in 2023 under its chairman, Pham Nhat Vuong. The service uses only VinFast electric vehicles and says it has provided around 850 million rides covering nearly six billion kilometres to date. Beyond the U.S., Green SM operates in India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos and the Philippines in Asia, and in Denmark and the Netherlands in Europe.