Green SM, a mobility company linked to Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast, has started an electric taxi service in Los Angeles. After expanding in Asia and Europe, it has taken its first step into North America and set its sights on the U.S. ride-hailing market.

On Oct. 14 local time, CleanTechnica reported that Green SM began operating electric taxis in Los Angeles a day earlier. The United States is its ninth market after Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Kazakhstan, Denmark and the Netherlands.

The fleet consists of VinFast's VF8 electric sport utility vehicles. The Los Angeles Times reported that the initial rollout includes 500 vehicles and 500 drivers, competing with existing ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft.

A key feature is that it hires drivers as full-time employees and owns and manages the vehicles directly. This is a different operating model from Uber and Lyft, which use independent contractors.

Users can hail a car through a dedicated app, by phone or on the street. New customers receive a 50 percent discount on fares for their first five rides, and the company also runs a membership programme offering monthly discount passes.

Hoang Thanh Hang (황타인항), CEO of Green SM's U.S. unit, said, "We are not simply entering a new market, but building trust with customers, drivers and local communities."

Founded in Vietnam in 2023, Green SM has recorded about 850 million rides and about 6 billion km in cumulative mileage worldwide. The company explained that this reduced carbon dioxide emissions by more than 800,000 tonnes.

The expansion came shortly after VinFast announced plans to enter the U.S. electric bus market. VinFast previously said it would work with NexMove to supply electric buses to the local public transport market.

Green SM plans to use Los Angeles as a base to expand local driver recruitment and training and build out maintenance infrastructure, before expanding its electric taxi service to other U.S. cities.