Vietnam Electric Vehicle Infrastructure

Now that Vietnam has publicly stated two interrelated goals of reaching high-income by 2045 and achieving net zero by 2050, coupled with its homegrown electric vehicle company, Vinfast, listing on the NASDAQ stock exchange in August 2023, the electric vehicles sector is as popular as ever in this country of 100 million people.  

Legislation and Government Policies Favoring EVs Future

Legislation has been recently approved such as Decision No. 876/QD-TTq in 2023 on Approving the Action Program for Green Energy Transition and Carbon Dioxide and Methane Emissions Mitigation in Transportation.  Given examples such as this, the Government of Vietnam has clearly set a strategic vision for EV deployment and transportation sector decarbonization.  As such, there is a developing need for specific policies, regulations, and standards that cover EV charging.  Vietnam’s EV market is in its early stages of development, and the Government of Vietnam is supporting the industry with various initiatives and policies to promote the adoption of EVs. This will encourage the use of EVs, not just in terms of absolute demand but in terms of growth, given the particularly young population, which should create jobs and stimulate economic growth for the nation.  EVs also help to reduce air pollution in cities.  Charging infrastructure is gaining increased attention and several domestic and foreign companies are investing in the production of EVs and charging infrastructure in Vietnam.

VinFast’s Homegrown Charging Infrastructure

One factor that greatly contributes to the decision to purchase an EV in Vietnam is the charging infrastructure, with consideration given to a) convenience and b) cost. The comparison is often made with the conventional use of plugging in the car at a petrol station, and the tank would be filled within 5 minutes for the next 280 kilometers on average. The charging infrastructure becomes the competitive advantage to VinFast, the major EV producer in Vietnam, also the only locally owned group for producing electric cars, which has gradually reached 150,000 charging ports nationwide at charging stations on national highways, expressways in all 63 provinces and cities all over Vietnam, in residential areas, parking lots, office buildings, universities, shopping complexes, or gas stations of Petrolimex or PVOil, etc. The charging system has been deployed on 106 national highways and expressways, with all capacities from normal charging to super-fast charging. The average distance between charging stations is only about 65km and is increasingly shortening, making inter-provincial and even cross-Vietnam travel by electric car easily possible. These charging ports have increased convenience for EV owners and future consumers.

Potential of the Charging Infrastructure Market for U.S. Exporters

The charging systems in Vietnam are mainly being developed and managed by VinFast, which gives it general competitiveness over other EV brands either already in the market or who try to enter the market. However, as the overall demand of the market grows, customers will inevitably — and ideally — prefer to have alternatives; hence, the charging infrastructure landscape in Vietnam is expected to develop further in the future to meet all sorts of growing demand.  There is a need to grow universal public charging infrastructure, which will allow vehicle owners, regardless of the vehicle brand, to access charging infrastructure outside of their homes. The growth of public charging stations is a critical factor for both manufacturers and consumers. For firms to enter the market of Vietnam, they could opt for collaboration with local investors to build compatible charging ports. This factor could boost the development of the entire sector.

For more information, please contact:
 
Ms. Janice Tran
Commercial Specialist
The Embassy of the United States in Vietnam
E-mail: Bich.Tran@trade.gov