VinFast PH flexes Laguna warehouse; battery repurpose program revealed
It’s not every day that a car company offers a “field trip” to its parts warehouse, opening up a critical segment of its business operations to the public eye. But that’s what VinFast Philippines did for a group of motoring scribes and content creators last Feb. 6. We got the inside view of its humongous storage facility inside the 50,000-sqm DHL warehouse in Santa Rosa City, Laguna.
We had a guided walk-through of the over 3,000-sqm space dedicated to VinFast Philippines spare parts inside the DHL facility. There, beside other international brands of home appliances, furniture, electronics, and other whatnots, were rows upon rows of VinFast’s parts: Roofing, seats, door panels, bumpers, tires, motors, windshields, bolts, and nuts.
There’s also a separate storage area for the EV batteries, and we were allowed to go inside the building where the EV batteries were stored. Here, the room temperature (air-conditioned) is closely regulated.
If I were trapped in this warehouse for an adequate amount of time, I could assemble an entire VinFast EV myself. That is, if I could correctly sort out the tens of thousands of parts in the inventory.
In a Jan. 23 interview, VinFast Southeast Asia chief executive officer Toti Zara said, “We have 80,000 components in our warehouse. It’s massive, and it’s run by DHL, our global service provider for parts distribution centers, while DB Schenker is our logistics provider who handles parts distribution nationwide. There are enough spare parts in our local warehouse, including batteries, (to supply the growing local demand).”
The DHL supply chain in the Philippines also boasts of its advanced technology and tailored infrastructure to manage and store spare parts efficiently. This also includes an agreement for EV battery spare parts logistics, with a separate building for EV battery storage that needs to be maintained at a certain temperature. DHL also happens to be a logistics partner for VinFast in Europe (with a central warehouse facility in Holtum near Born, the Netherlands) for 24-hour delivery of parts to minimize downtime.
At the moment, VinFast is the only car brand that uses DHL’s storage facilities in Santa Rosa City. DHL used to handle BMW parts for more than 10 years, when the German brand was still under Columbian Group in the Philippines. DHL said that, should VinFast require it, the facility can provide more space for more parts from the EV maker.
Battery repurposing capacity
Meanwhile, VinFast has also reiterated that it has the capacity and technology to repurpose EV batteries. The company has been actively developing a sustainable, circular economy for EV batteries by partnering with specialists to recycle and repurpose spent batteries.
Last Jan. 23, VinFast announced an updated battery subscription policy for the Philippine market. Zara said this would reduce upfront costs of VinFast vehicles by up to around 20 percent, with battery subscription fees starting from P1,600 per month based on actual driving distance, and depending on the model. I also asked him about plans for an environmentally friendly program for an end-of-life vehicle dismantling facility or the repurposing of batteries.
“Unlike fossil fuels that would just burn into thin air, lithium is 90 percent renewable; we would repurpose lithium, repurpose the battery. With VinEnergo, we are confident we can repurpose the battery effectively. That’s why our pricing is reasonable,” said Zara.
A quick online search showed that VinEnergo has developed initiatives in Vietnam to integrate retired EV batteries into stationary energy storage systems, creating a “second life” for these power sources. This initiative is part of a broader strategy within VinGroup—which includes VinFast and VinES Energy Solutions—to establish a closed-loop, sustainable, and circular energy economy.
As far as Zara is concerned, battery repurposing is yet a non-issue.
“The situation right now is that no EV batteries have returned to us yet, as it will take 10 years, or even longer, before spent batteries are returned. Even in Vietnam, no batteries have been returned yet.”
