Hanoi electric motorbike transition mandate ‘too rushed’: Grab, Selex Motor

Dang Thuy Trang, Grab Vietnam’s public affairs director, speaking at a forum Wednesday, said her company survey found virtually two-thirds of its drivers are not ready to switch to electric vehicles.

For them, every minute counts since time means money in this line of work, and while refueling takes only two or three minutes, charging EVs takes 30 minutes to several hours, she said.

The road map to ban gasoline motorbikes should fully factor in the EV ecosystem, she said.

This ecosystem needs to include charging infrastructure, maintenance facilities and financial incentives that support transition, she added.

Motorbike drivers in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh

Nguyen Huu Phuoc Nguyen, founder and CEO of Selex Motors, concurred with her, saying the seven months left for making the switch is "far too urgent."

"A transition period of less than a year is fairly short, while many global cities adopt longer roadmaps of around five years and divide the process into multiple stages," he told VnExpress.

An example is Amsterdam in the Netherlands, which announced its plan to restrict gasoline vehicles in 2019.

That city has banned polluting buses and vans from entering the central area since 2022 and aims to eliminate gasoline vehicles entirely by 2030, meanwhile expanding charging infrastructure, providing subsidies for electric vehicle purchases and reducing parking fees.

Many fear Hanoi’s charging infrastructure is not ready for a large number of vehicles.

Charging stations remain limited and technical standards vary between different manufacturers, while home charging remains inconvenient.

Another issue is the safety fear around charging. Recently some residential complexes in the city have refused to allow parking of electric motorbikes in basements due to fire safety concerns.

But local authorities have overridden the building managements and ordered them to set up charging stations in a separate area away from gasoline vehicles.

Analysts recommend a gradual shift in transition, saying for the first three years private vehicle users and delivery drivers could be encouraged to switch through financial subsidies before, in the following two years, introducing mandatory measures such as banning ride-haling gasoline motorbikes in the inner city.

Ride-hailing companies Grab and Be and electric vehicle manufacturers Selex Motors, DatBike and VinFast have launched programs to help drivers and users switch to EVs.

Grab began piloting an electric car booking feature in October.

It has also partnered with charging solutions provider Eboost, which operates more than 300 charging stations nationwide, to offer fixed charging prices for drivers.

DatBike and VinFast have introduced "old-for-new" trade-in programs, while Selex Motors also partners with a finance company to offer zero-interest loan for drivers who want to buy electric cars.

Hanoi has 1.1 million cars and 6.9 million motorbikes, most of them running on gasoline or diesel.

The city plans to provide residents with up to VND5 million (US$190) to switch from gasoline motorbikes to electric.