This electric car is doing something extreme just to stay at a snail's pace!
VinFast, the Vietnamese automaker, has had a bit of a bumpy ride since arriving in the U.S. a few years ago. Their very first model offered here, the all-electric VF8 crossover, didn't exactly get rave reviews. In fact, some folks, including our own Emme Hall, encountered quite a few software and hardware glitches during their initial test drives back in 2023. It seems like the VF8 had a few more tricks up its sleeve than expected, and not necessarily the good kind!
Things got even more interesting later that year when VinFast announced they would actually pay their buyers every time their cars decided to stop working. We're talking up to $300 if the car became completely inoperable! Fast forward to 2025, and with the electric vehicle market slowing down and new tariffs in the U.S., VinFast has decided to hit the pause button on their North Carolina plant and shift their focus back to developing cars for the Asian market. It seems the American dream for VinFast might be on hold for now.
Even with this strategic pivot, VinFast still has a presence in the United States, with 17 dealerships still open nationwide. Though, it's worth noting that they did close a few of these at the end of last year. According to Automotive News, VinFast sold fewer than 1,500 vehicles in the first 11 months of 2025. That's a pretty small number for a car company trying to make a splash.
But here's where it gets truly bizarre. VinFast is now facing a new, rather peculiar problem: their cars seem to be doing anything it takes—even accelerating aggressively enough to perform a burnout—just to maintain a glacial pace of 4 mph. Yes, you read that right!
What Exactly is 'Creep Mode'?
If you've ever driven a traditional gasoline car with an automatic transmission, you've probably experienced 'creep.' It's that gentle forward motion you feel when you lift your foot off the brake pedal, even before you touch the accelerator. The car just seems to creep forward at around 3-4 mph as the engine's power is transferred to the wheels. It’s a subtle but familiar sensation.
Now, electric cars are a bit different. Since they don't have internal combustion engines or those traditional torque converter transmissions, they don't naturally creep forward when you release the brake. To get an EV to move from a standstill, you typically need to press the accelerator. This can be one of the biggest adjustments for drivers switching from a gas car to an EV.
To bridge this gap and make EVs feel more familiar to potential buyers, many car manufacturers have started adding 'creep modes' to their electric vehicles. The idea is to mimic the driving experience of a gas car, making it less intimidating for those who prefer a car that moves on its own in certain situations, like when stuck in heavy traffic.
When this 'creep mode' is activated in an EV, it works as you'd expect. Instead of staying put when you release the brakes, the car will simulate that gentle forward acceleration without any input from the driver. You can usually turn this feature on or off through the car's software, so if it becomes a nuisance, you can simply disable it.
VinFast's Creep Mode: Apparently, It's Very Determined!
The VinFast VF8, being a modern EV, does indeed have a creep mode that you can enable via the infotainment screen. When you switch it on, the car is supposed to start creeping forward at about 4 mph once you release the brakes. The perplexing part? It seems this car is programmed to hit and maintain 4 mph no matter what.
This peculiar behavior came to light thanks to a video by journalist Kyle Conner. It shows the VF8's creep mode attempting to maintain that 4 mph speed even in situations where there's very little traction, like on a snowy incline. Instead of recognizing the lack of grip, the VF8 apparently keeps sending power to the motors until that 4 mph target is met. The result is a rather alarming situation that can lead to runaway one-wheel burnouts!
And this happened even with the traction control system engaged, suggesting that the VF8's drive to creep forward might be overriding its safety parameters. Theoretically, the car shouldn't be exceeding 4 mph in these low-traction scenarios, and to VinFast's credit, it doesn't seem to go much faster. However, at certain points in the video, the wheel appears to be spinning at speeds that look more like highway cruising! What if that wheel suddenly regained traction while spinning that fast, especially on an icy road? It's a genuinely scary thought.
This isn't the first time someone has pointed out the extreme persistence of the VF8's creep mode. Jason Cammisa discussed this very issue on The Carmudgeon Show podcast back in December. He even conducted an experiment demonstrating how the VF8 would unleash as much power as possible to maintain that 4 mph, even when trying to push a full dumpster's worth of trash!
In a gasoline car, creep is naturally limited by the engine's idle power. If you're facing an uphill battle or stuck in deep snow, that idle power might not be enough for the car to move on its own. This logical limitation seems to have been overlooked in the VF8's creep mode. Instead of basing creep on power output, it appears to be solely measured by speed. When the car senses it's not hitting that predetermined speed, it apparently throws everything it has at accelerating to reach it, even if that means an extreme surge of power in low-traction conditions.
So, Where Does VinFast Stand on This?
Naturally, I was curious to know if VinFast was aware of this potentially hazardous issue. I attempted to contact their U.S. operations for a statement, but it seems their online presence has become quite elusive. According to LinkedIn, VinFast's American head of communications departed the company back in November.
Their American customer-facing website does have a general contact form, but even that doesn't seem to be functioning correctly. No matter what information I entered, I was met with a Captcha error, and there wasn't even a Captcha prompt visible on the page! It's as if the website itself is playing hard to get.
In lieu of these dead ends, I tried reaching out to VinFast's general media email, only to have the message bounce back with a notification that the recipient's mailbox was full and unable to accept further messages. I've also extended my reach to their Canadian representative and their investor relations email, hoping someone can point me in the right direction. Even if VinFast is scaling back its efforts in the American market, they still have a fundamental responsibility to ensure the safety of the vehicles they've already sold here.
What are your thoughts on this extreme creep mode behavior? Do you think VinFast has a responsibility to address this immediately, even if they are shifting focus? Let us know in the comments below!
