Đi đi mau! The VinFast VF 3

Fading in from the darkness, a red Lamborghini Countach sits perfectly parked perpendicular on the screen. Next to it, a moustachioed man stands wearing a white jumpsuit and a red baseball cap.

It’s the Micro Machine man, John Moschitta, Jr., the world’s fastest talker. He sticks his hand out, and in a flash of light, the supercar shrinks and flies into his palm like magic. And as if he had just taken a whiff of the finest Colombian snow that side of the 1980s, he begins talking a mile a minute about the latest offering from Galoob: Micro Machines.

If you were old enough to watch Saturday-morning cartoons, you’d know how big Micro Machines were back in the day. I remember having a red one that, next to the 1987 Land Rover Ninety Matchbox I painted British racing green with the help of my sister’s nail polish, was in heavy rotation during playtime. And while it may not be totally responsible for it (the credit really belongs to my neon orange Ferrari F40 Matchbox Super Fast), it certainly helped develop my lifelong fascination for tiny cars.

Think about it: They’re the perfect cars for the Philippines! Our roads are small, we as a people are small (height-wise), our cities were designed without any consideration for adequate parking, and traffic is so abysmal that a V8 is just flat out impractical.

All that being said, this was why when I was told that a VinFast VF 3 was mine for a full week to put to its paces, despite the warnings from multiple people to temper my expectations, I still had very high hopes for it.

You see, the VF 3 is VinFast’s entry-level offering that’s also all-electric. It also has the distinction of being the hottest vehicle on sale in its home country of Vietnam today. That reputation notwithstanding, in an automotive landscape where all newcomers are placing their best feet forward even on their lowliest of models, it comes as a true surprise to me that this one has more personality than it does features.

We shot a video with it just recently, and we wrapped up in record time simply because there weren’t many things to shoot despite how colorful the car they gave to us was.

But what little it does have, it does an adequate job at it.

For starters, the VF 3’s performance is limited by its 32kW rear-mounted motor that whirrs like something out of Spacely Space Sprockets or the back nine of a country club. With a total output of 44 horsepower and pulling power of 110Nm, I have nary a comment about its performance in and around town and the big city–it can definitely do it. Where its true test really lies for its owners is on the highway, where it’s hampered to about 100kph.

That’s plenty enough speed, though, considering it has a theoretical range of just 210km on a full charge in its 18.64kWh lithium-ion battery. Now I can’t stress “theoretical” enough because in the week I spent with it, I noticed its range dwindled faster than expected, only managing to make it to 160km before the dreaded range anxiety kicked in and the team and I had to hook it up to a nearby charger.

Which leads me to perhaps the most controversial aspect of the VF 3, its charging. I was told before I peeled out of the dealer lot that it required DC charging. “Okay, well, does this unit have its portable DC charger at the back?” I asked with a concerned look. “No,” said the VinFast rep, “but you can try charging at the mall?”

Well, we couldn’t find a mall with a charger. We did, however, find solace in a competitor’s lot that let us use their charging station, letting us test VinFast’s claims that the car charges from 10 to 70% in an impressive 30 minutes. True enough, after “Seal and Dolphin spotting” at that dealership for about 28 minutes, we were able to get our VF 3 back up to a healthy 66%.

Back on the road, I can say that the driving experience is pretty satisfactory. It came as a shock to me how big a factor its 16-inch steel wheels play on its ride characteristics. With a comically short wheelbase of just 2,075mm, I was expecting to giddyup from the get-go, but I was pleased to discover that the VF 3 was actually quite civilized. It has to be noted that the big wheels did have an adverse effect on its turning radius, scraping ever so slightly on the wheel well whenever I made full turns.

Internally, the car might look pretty spartan on the onset, but truth be told, there’s a lot of understated method in its madness. For one, all the controls are situated in the middle: the window controls, the door lock, even the gear shift has moved to the right stalk, L300 style.

The car has only one central display on-board too: a 10-inch infotainment system that houses key instrument displays on the left side and the entertainment on the right. In all fairness, it’s easy to navigate and the touch is responsive enough that it’s not too bothersome to operate even while driving since it does not have any controls on the steering wheel. A key feature it also doesn’t have are Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but it does have Bluetooth which, to be honest, I personally prefer to use anyway.

On the whole, the consolidation of everything to the middle frees up the cabin of any clutter and what you’re left with is plenty of legroom and storage space in front, it even has a deep cubby in the middle with a Type-C charger.

The back is a different story, unfortunately. In the VF 3 you have the option of having cargo or passengers but not both. Configured as a people-carrier, the car can seat two adults at the back with some discomfort due to a lack of leg room and bouncy feel as you’re situated directly above the rear axle. While there is a small space left when you open the rear hatch, you’d fit no more than an umbrella and small boogie board in it. With the seats folded down though, the back converts into a spacious rear trunk with a capacity of 285 liters. The only caveat in this configuration would be its high trunk sill typical of small hatchbacks.

What VinFast would have you believe isn’t typical for the VF 3 is its price: just Php 745,000 with a seven-year or 165,000km warranty and a 10-year or 200,000km warranty on its battery.

At the end of every Micro Machines commercial, John Moschitta would always end by saying, “if it doesn’t say Micro Machines, it’s not the real thing.” Over the years, we’ve seen many automakers try their hand at the ideal small car. Thereal vehicle for our country’s situation. While some of these end up becoming cult classics, most just burn out, fading into obscurity. The truth is, we as a country aren’t very ideal people.

Against our better judgement we continue to have a voracious appetite for large SUVs with a false sense of security and pickups, selling the guarantee of capacity we hardly ever need. So it begs the question: with a captive market afflicted with a severe case of Stockholm syndrome, is the VF 3 the real thing?

2026 VinFast VF 3 | Key Information

Motor	Rear-mounted Single Electric Motor
Output	44 horsepower, 110Nm of torque
Transmission	–
Drivetrain	Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD)
Seating Capacity	2+2
Price	Php 745,000 (without battery subscription)
Pros	Unique and easily customizable look, surprisingly smooth ride, and price
Cons	Limited trunk space with passengers, hampered performance on the highway, and lack of creature comforts

^{Photos by Wowie Go}