Switching to Electric Vehicles: Willing to Do It

Developing electric vehicles is a trend that many countries in the world are implementing, including Vietnam. In many large cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City... images of electric buses and electric taxis are appearing more and more.

Passengers strongly support this electric bus route as a means of transportation - Photo: BE HIEU

The two largest cities in the country also have a project to convert public transport from using fossil fuels to electricity with a timeline of 2030 - 2035 to have 100% electric buses.

However, this conversion process is expected to face many problems such as: charging station planning, subsidy mechanisms, support policies for businesses to make the conversion...

Electric buses are modern but not many yet.

Speaking to Tuoi Tre, Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Thi An, a member of the 13th National Assembly, said that monitoring information as well as media reports in recent years in Hanoi and some northern provinces show that air pollution is alarming. Even in autumn, the air is still polluted, greatly affecting human health.

In addition to means of transport using fossil fuels (gasoline, oil), there are other sources of emissions such as construction, transportation of construction materials, burning straw, chimneys in industrial parks, craft villages... It is necessary to synchronously deploy solutions to solve the problem of air pollution. In addition, it is necessary to accurately assess the causes and propose solutions to handle each type of cause and source of emissions causing air pollution.

According to Ms. An, fossil fuel vehicles are one of the sources of heavy air pollution in urban areas - where traffic density is high. In recent years, big cities like Hanoi have had solutions to reduce pollution caused by vehicles. For example, piloting some programs such as replacing old motorbikes with new ones with partial financial support or urban bicycle services...

However, according to Ms. An, it can be seen that although there have been many policies and solutions, the proportion of electric buses is still not high. The parking spots for electric buses are not really convenient, making public transport not as attractive as desired.

Hanoi is preparing the potential to create infrastructure for public transport such as investing in bus stations, fishbone roads, connecting districts and regions. Hopefully in the coming years, Hanoi's desire to reduce emissions and air pollution caused by means of transport will gradually improve as people wish.

In Ho Chi Minh City, electric buses will be piloted on the first subsidized route (route D4) by Vinbus Ecological Transport Company Limited - Ho Chi Minh City branch of Vingroup Corporation in 2022.

According to the assessment of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, since its operation, despite many difficulties and challenges, the D4 electric bus route has brought positive signals such as: the transport volume of the route has gradually increased, there have been many compliments and good reviews about the service quality, modern vehicles, and zero emissions.

However, due to many problems, the expansion of more electric bus routes in Ho Chi Minh City has not been possible. Another positive sign is that not only the appearance of electric buses, but also the increasing number of electric passenger cars on the roads in Ho Chi Minh City.

Ocp - E10 electric bus from Noi Bai airport to Ocean Park residential area (Hanoi) - Photo: TTD

Urgently build mechanisms to support electric vehicles

Returning to the story of electric buses in Ho Chi Minh City, despite positive reviews, there are still many problems that prevent the expansion of implementation. Therefore, the project to convert 100% of buses using fossil fuels to electric vehicles by 2030 in Ho Chi Minh City and by 2035 in Hanoi will not be easy.

One of the reasons why electric buses have not been expanded is that the investment cost of an electric bus is much higher than that of other buses. Meanwhile, the subsidy rate for electric bus routes in Ho Chi Minh City is currently considered low (about 44.1%), only about 2/3 of the subsidy rate for diesel and CNG buses (66.4%).

Another issue that many businesses are concerned about is the charging station story because there is currently no planning for charging stations. These charging stations must be planned, invested in and distributed reasonably to meet the needs of electric vehicle development in the future...

The good news is that the central ministries have seen the above mentioned contents and have held many meetings to discuss solutions. Specifically, at a recent meeting on implementing green transport development policies and electric vehicle charging station development policies, Deputy Minister of Construction Bui Xuan Dung said that the content of electric charging stations/posts will be integrated into the draft Law on Urban and Rural Planning, urban and rural system planning. It is expected that the competent authorities will submit it to the competent authority for promulgation before 2026.

Also at the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha assigned the Ministry of Transport to coordinate with relevant ministries, branches and localities to review and propose policies to encourage and support the conversion to electric and green fuel vehicles for manufacturing, importing and user enterprises. Along with that, there should be policies to support investors in electric charging stations/pillars in terms of land, planning, taxes, fees, etc.

Referring to this issue, Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Thi An said that in order for Hanoi and many other cities to switch from fossil fuels to electric vehicles, it is necessary to call for socialization. However, it is necessary to attract investors, harmonize the interests of businesses, people, and the State. In addition, there are policies to help businesses, create conditions for investors to participate in socialization in the field of transportation and make profits.

"For example, what about credit and lending, and how to create favorable tax conditions? In the early stages when businesses participate in socialization, they will often lose money, so there should be a policy to create favorable conditions through taxes. Create favorable conditions for businesses to invest profitably, survive and develop," said Ms. An.

Green transport development is a trend, so Ms. An believes that there needs to be a roadmap to "join hands" to implement it. With the Prime Minister's commitment at COP26, Vietnam must reduce net emissions to zero by 2050, so green development, green economy, green transport... are inevitable trends.

Green development will contribute to reducing emissions, creating conditions for the country to develop sustainably, improve environmental quality, and improve social security. It is a double benefit. However, developing a green economy and green transportation is not easy because it requires changing habits, thinking, and technology. Switching to electric vehicles is not easy, but with determination, it can be done.

* Mr. NGO HAI DUONG (Head of Road Transport Management Department, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport):

Many supports for electric bus conversion, green energy in Ho Chi Minh City

The Department has researched and proposed many optimal solutions to support and encourage businesses to invest in and convert to green buses. This includes supporting a maximum loan of 85% of the total investment of the project as well as supporting a maximum interest rate of 300 billion VND/project. In addition, the loan interest rate is fixed at 3% throughout the loan period, the city budget supports the difference between the interest rate used to calculate the support level and the fixed loan interest rate.

Regarding the charging station investment policy, units are allowed to borrow up to 70% of the total project investment, the State supports 50% of the interest rate. The maximum interest rate support loan amount is 200 billion VND/project... In particular, to encourage businesses, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport proposed to organize bidding for bus routes using electricity and green energy for a period of 10 years to reduce the unit price of public passenger transport services, thereby reducing the annual subsidy level from the Ho Chi Minh City budget...

* Dr. LE DANG DOANH (economic expert):

Electric bus subsidy mechanism must be attractive to investors

First of all, if we want to increase the number of electric buses, the government needs to consider the option of compensating and subsidizing electric buses, creating an attractive mechanism for investors. Make the electric bus network more convenient and dense. And have policies to help students, workers, office workers... use it more.

There should be a form of encouragement for private enterprises to invest, and the form of PPP (public-private partnership) should be used to implement it. Attract investment, attract consumption, and have campaigns to encourage people to use electric buses, encourage people to travel every day...

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chuyen-doi-sang-xe-dien-quyet-tam-se-lam-duoc-20241102081043126.htm