Green SM, the Vietnamese electric ride-hailing provider and VinFast affiliate, has started operating electric taxis in the United States, deploying its first vehicles in Los Angeles, California, on 13 October. The launch marks the company's North American debut and its ninth market worldwide, coming a little over a month after it entered Europe.
Customers in Los Angeles can book rides through the Green SM mobile app, available on the App Store and Google Play, or by calling the company's hotline or hailing a taxi on the street. To promote 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 granting a 30 per cent discount capped at ten dollars per ride.
Hoang Thanh Hang, the CEO of Green SM in the United States, described the market entry as an important milestone in the company's growth journey, adding that Green SM aims to build trust with customers, drivers and local communities one journey at a time.
Unlike its Asian operations, where it runs both electric scooters and cars, Green SM uses only cars in the United States. Its Los Angeles fleet consists solely of the VinFast VF 8, a mid-size SUV and the brand's most affordable model in the US, priced from 39,900 dollars.
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; the other delivers 300 kW and 620 Nm. Both use an 87.7 kWh NMC battery pack, which the US Environmental Protection Agency rates at 256 miles of range for the first variant and 235 miles for the second. Green SM has not disclosed which configuration it selected for its fleet or whether it uses both.
Green SM was established in 2023 by Pham Nhat Vuong, chairman of VinFast's parent company Vingroup. The company operates exclusively with VinFast EVs and says it has provided around 850 million rides covering nearly six billion kilometres to date. Beyond the United States, it offers electric ride-hailing in India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos and the Philippines in Asia, and in Denmark and the Netherlands in Europe.