A new mysterious electric scooter has been patented in the country by the Vietnamese electric mobility giant, Vinfast. As of writing this article, Vinfast is only offering electric cars in the country with local production at their manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu state. However, the company intends to launch electric scooters in India as well.
Now, the mystery scooter design patented in India, is from Vinfast, as suggested by the obvious brandings all around. However, this is a new scooter and Vinfast does not offer this particular version anywhere in the world. However, it resembles a Vinfast Viper electric scooter and one could speculate that this is the Gen 2 version of the current Vinfast Viper electric scooter.
New Vinfast Electric Scooter
India has witnessed a sharp rise in electric 2W sales and many state and UT governments are considering mandating only electric 2W registrations in the future. So, electric 2W sales will explode in the future and many OEMs are keen on carving a slice of this action. Vinfast is one such brand and is expected to debut with offerings like Evo, Feliz II and Viper.
What looks like a new generation of Viper electric scooter (Viper II, name not confirmed) has been patented in India, sparking launch speculations. Vinfast Viper is primarily sold in Vietnam and India is a potential market for this electric scooter. So, patenting design of a next gen Viper in India makes perfect sense for IP protection exercise.
Vinfast is a new electric mobility solutions provider and is recently coming up with second generation versions of their portfolio. Feliz is a stark example of this where we saw iterative updates to aesthetics and functionalities. Same could be the case with Viper II as well. We can see that Vinfast has retained the overall tall boy silhouette of Viper.
What’s New?
New elements we can see are revised LED headlights with integrated LED DRLs and lowered Vinfast logo position, a sharper front fender, slightly redesigned fly screen and then new side body panels. Rear bat-wing-like LED tail light seems to be new and more mature than current model. Also, Vinfast might consider introducing an entirely new colour palette or retain some from current model.
What’s retained from current model are the same 14-inch alloy wheels, seat with a step for pillion, a flat floorboard, foot pegs, rear hub motor, TFT instrument cluster, a smart key system with keyless go, 10L front storage and more. Cycle parts like telescopic front forks, gas-charged rear twin shockers, front disc brakes and other elements seem to be retained as well.
Powertrain-wise, current Vinfast Viper electric scooter comes with a 1.5 kWh fixed battery with 82 km range and an optional 1.15 kWh secondary battery which adds 74 km to the range. The rear hub motor is rated at a peak 3000W (4 bhp) and top speed is 70 km/h. Vinfast is yet to confirm whether this particular scooter is India-specific Viper II or a global model.