Electric car boom, battery charging worries are difficult to meet

Currently, the number of electric cars and electric motorbikes circulating in our country has increased significantly. According to traffic experts, for electric vehicles to develop sustainably, there needs to be synchronization in infrastructure development, especially charging station infrastructure.

Service car drivers use a charging station in An Nhon ward, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: DUC TRUNG

Bustling electric cars

According to a report from the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA), in the first 6 months of this year, the cumulative electric vehicle sales of manufacturers (Ford, Toyota, Honda, Suzuki...) and some non-VAMA importers reached 226,500 units, an increase of 70.2% over the same period in 2024.

Meanwhile, VinFast has rolled out 67,569 electric cars in the past 6 months, accounting for about 30% of the total market share. With BYD, China's largest electric car company, after nearly 1 year of presence in the Vietnamese market, it has distributed a total of 6 pure electric car models. The Vietnamese electric car market is growing strongly with tens of thousands of cars produced each year, at present there are about 300,000 cars rolling on the road from BYD, TMT, Huyndai, Wuling, VinFast ...

With electric motorbikes, the companies dominating the market are VinFast, Dat Bike, Selex Motors. In just a short time entering the market, there have been nearly 3.5 million electric motorbikes on the road. Electric motorbike companies are making efforts to meet market demand, for example, Selex has strongly developed an automatic battery swapping station system so that customers can travel conveniently without worrying about running out of battery on the road. Meanwhile, Dat Bike focuses on batteries that meet speeds of 100km/h, and each full charge can travel nearly 300km.

In Vietnam, the electric vehicle charging station infrastructure is being strongly developed, with diverse uses. VinFast has arranged more than 150,000 charging stations at rest stops, shopping malls, urban areas and public charging points in major cities. The other group is charging stations at dealerships and selling home charging for car owners, such as: EV One public charging stations, EverCharge; home charging has EverEV, GreenCharge, Star Charge, Autel.

Charging stations do not meet demand

According to records, the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles has not met the demand in large cities such as Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi . Currently, the number of public charging stations in Ho Chi Minh City is mainly concentrated in new urban areas, large commercial centers or car company service points. Electric vehicle users, especially electric cars, often have difficulty finding convenient charging points, especially in crowded residential areas, suburban areas or old apartments. Many people are forced to pull their own power cords to charge at home, posing potential risks of electrical safety and fire.

A booth displaying electric motorbikes at the Vietbuild 2025 International Exhibition, which recently took place at Quang Trung Software Park, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: DUC TRUNG

There are many reasons why the development of charging stations is still limited in Vietnam. Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong, CEO of Ever EV Charging Station Development Company, said that electric vehicle charging station developers face a number of problems such as inadequate power infrastructure and unfavorable power supply units. Currently, charging station developers do not receive financial support from the government and have to find capital from investment funds with difficulty.

Ms. Nguyen Ha Ly, Communications Director of BYD Vietnam, shared that BYD also encountered some obstacles in the process of developing charging infrastructure. Specifically, finding suitable land to deploy public fast charging stations in big cities is not easy. The approval and legal process for investing in charging station systems is still complicated, especially the requirements related to fire prevention and fighting and grid connection. "The market is taking shape, so it requires synchronous coordination between enterprises, the government and charging service providers," Ms. Ly commented.

Meanwhile, regarding the safety risks of the electrical system and the risk of fire and explosion when charging electric vehicles in apartment buildings, according to Mr. Bui Trung Kien, Deputy General Director of Ho Chi Minh City Electricity Corporation, although the charging capacity of an electric vehicle such as a bicycle or electric motorbike is not too large (except for electric cars with large charging capacity), if there are many vehicles charging at the same time but the electrical system is not safe, or poor quality charging equipment and batteries are used, there are also potential risks of fire and explosion, not only in apartment buildings but also in private homes.

The reason is that the market currently has many chargers floating around, not ensuring quality, unknown origin leading to damage and fire during use. In addition, due to the explosive development of electric vehicles, many vehicles have been used for many years, so problems with battery quality arise. In particular, the habit of charging vehicles overnight leads to fire and explosion risks that are difficult to detect and handle promptly.

Lawyer Tran Minh Hung, Head of Gia Dinh Law Office (under Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association): Using electric vehicle charging equipment must ensure national standards.

Article 24 of the Law on Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue 2024 stipulates fire prevention in the installation and use of electricity for daily life and production. Accordingly, the installation and use of electricity for daily life must ensure fire prevention conditions. Specifically, when connecting electricity for daily life, electricity retailers must advise on the installation and use of electrical systems and equipment to ensure fire safety.

Only electric vehicle charging equipment that meets national technical standards may be used; indoor electric vehicle charging areas must have fire safety solutions; indoor electric vehicle charging areas must also have fire prevention solutions and be equipped with appropriate fire-fighting equipment that meets standards.

In addition, according to Point a, Clause 4, Article 12 of Decree 106/2025/ND-CP, the act of not having a fire prevention solution for the charging area for electric motor vehicles concentrated indoors will be fined from 40-50 million VND.

DUC TRUNG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/bung-no-xe-dien-lo-sac-pin-kho-dap-ung-post804647.html