14,000 ride-hailing motorbike drivers in HCMC go electric

The city plans to convert all 400,000 ride-hailing motorbikes to EVs by 2029, Ngo Hai Duong, head of the Department of Construction’s road transport management department, said at a forum last week.

Starting next year the city plans to limit the number of registrations of gasoline-powered motorbikes for ride-hailing platforms.

In the case of taxis, the city has over 21,300 of them, 68% of them electric, Duong said. "The transition has largely been driven by businesses themselves, not by city diktats."

Ride-hailing drivers in HCMC. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Tung

But a major barrier is the availability of charging stations amid the increasing demand from electric motorbikes, cars and buses. The city only has less than 1,000 stations with 15,000 ports.

Duong admitted charging infrastructure growth has not kept pace with electric vehicle numbers.

Hoang Anh Tuan, director of the Ministry of Construction’s transport and traffic safety department, said priority should be given to a city-level plan for charging stations, similar to that of gasoline stations.

This calls for setting criteria for locations and technical standards, and ensuring universal charging for all vehicles, he added.

Concurring, the Vietnam Automobile, Motorcycle and Bicycle Association called on the government to have "non-monopoly" regulations for charging infrastructure, meaning stations should admit all electric vehicles.

Analysts have also called for establishing a system for recycling electric vehicles and their batteries.

The city is considering paying households up to VND20 million (US$800) to swap gasoline motorbikes for electric ones as part of a major push to cut pollution and create low-emission zones.