Rapid Progress
Last month, we visited the VinFast factory in Vietnam. The moment we left the airport and started driving, I noticed that most of the buildings—residential, commercial, schools, colleges, or even the expo centre—were owned by Vingroup. Even the resort where we stayed was part of that group.
Their manufacturing facility is state-of-the-art, where they make cars, scooters, and buses.
The country looks like what Thailand used to look like in the 2000s. The road infrastructure and road surface quality were superb.
What is amazing is that VinFast started manufacturing cars in 2017, and the quality of their cars is unbelievable for such a young company. There was a short drive in the newly launched VF MPV 7 on their test track. The VF MPV 7 looks nice from the outside. There is a lot of space inside this multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), and the third row can fit two adults. The quality and fit-and-finish of the interior are good. The power delivery is linear, not the typical one associated with most EVs. The ride quality felt very good on the test track, where the road surface was very good, and it felt that the suspension set-up leaned more towards comfort. The VF MPV 7 was launched in India, priced at Rs 24.50 lakh.
A study shows that you need 10,000 litres of water to produce one litre of ethanol. There is already a shortage of water for our basic requirements and for agriculture. This is tantamount to saying that you will not have water to drink or to take a bath, but you will have ethanol-blended petrol and isobutanol-blended diesel. Moreover, the consumer does not benefit from this blending; the price of petrol has not come down, and the blend is creating problems for old cars. The only ones who seem to be benefiting are the companies making ethanol.
EDITOR – ASPI BHATHENA
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