Phasing out aging gasoline vehicles could ease shift to electric

Limiting personal vehicles in major cities is the right approach, but authorities should have acted more decisively with a clear, coordinated roadmap to achieve this goal.

Traffic flow is like the body’s circulatory system, you cannot cut off part of it and expect the rest to function normally, as chain reactions will occur.

Instead of banning vehicles by zones, the restriction could be based on vehicle age. For example, starting this year, authorities could remove about one million of the oldest vehicles, around 20 years old or more, which are unsafe and highly polluting, and send them for recycling.

Because these vehicles have low residual value, owners would likely agree to scrap them if partial financial support is offered. Between 2026 and 2031, about one million vehicles could be phased out each year.

Alongside encouraging a shift to electric vehicles, authorities also need plans for handling gasoline-powered vehicles within Hanoi’s Ring Road 1 which circles most of the city center neighborhoods.

In reality, they can track up to 90% of the condition and location of millions of vehicles in the city and inform owners whose vehicles have reached the age limit, prompting them to bring them to collection points for recycling and financial assistance.

Commuters on motorbikes stop at a traffic light. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy

Those who refuse to comply would have their license plates revoked and receive no support. Remaining vehicles would be issued usage-limit stamps; those found without valid stickers or beyond their limit would face fines, plate confiscation, or even seizure and auction, without eligibility for financial support.

If the first year is implemented effectively, most owners would actively sell their vehicles in following years to maximize benefits.

This approach could see all gasoline motorbikes removed from major cities before 2030 without dividing areas and enforcing bans year after year. It would also avoid sudden pressure on the gasoline vehicle market, especially for older models, giving newer vehicle owners several more years to use them or enough time to switch without excessive losses. The actual reduction in emissions would be greater.

At the same time, this gradual shift would prevent a sudden surge in electric vehicle numbers, allowing time to expand power supply capacity and develop a widespread, safe, and convenient charging network.

Electric vehicles, particularly their batteries, are still in a pre-mature stage of development. Their advantages and drawbacks, from resource extraction and manufacturing to operation and recycling, have yet to be fully revealed.

This is why most developed nations, despite prioritizing environmental protection, remain cautious about mass conversions from gasoline to electric, setting transition timelines of 15 to 30 years. With ongoing advances in battery research and manufacturing, it is likely that in five to seven years, electric vehicles will be able to travel longer distances per charge, with charging times comparable to refueling.

Avoiding the mass purchase of millions of electric vehicles now would prevent them from becoming outdated within a few years, as charging and battery-swapping solutions improve. It would also spare millions without home charging access from the daily burden of finding stations and competing for available charging slots.

*Readers' opinions are personal and do not necessarily match VnExpress' viewpoints.