At the press conference on the afternoon of July 17, Mr. Le Thanh Hai, Director of the Center for Economic Application Consulting, Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies (HIDS), said that this unit is completing the "Project to Convert Two-Wheel Vehicles from Gasoline to Electric for Technology Drivers and Delivery Drivers in Ho Chi Minh City". The project will be submitted to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee tomorrow (July 18).

According to the project, all 400,000 technology and delivery drivers in Ho Chi Minh City will switch from gasoline to electric vehicles.

To implement the project, HIDS proposed that the central government exempt electric vehicle VAT and registration fees for 2 years. This move is intended to create a strong push to encourage technology vehicle drivers to switch vehicles.

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Mr. Le Thanh Hai, Director of the Center for Economic Application Consulting, Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies (HIDS). Photo: TTBC.

According to the roadmap, by 2026-2027, the city will convert about 80% of technology two-wheeler drivers, equivalent to 320,000 drivers.

By the third year, 2028, the policy of exempting VAT and registration fees will no longer apply, but Ho Chi Minh City will continue to lend money to drivers to convert their vehicles.

In 2029, HIDS proposed that Ho Chi Minh City completely ban two-wheeled gasoline vehicles of technology drivers in the entire city after the merger.

Because the project has a wide-ranging impact on the livelihoods of drivers who regularly drive every day, in 2023, HIDS conducted a survey with 470 drivers driving gasoline vehicles on 3 platforms: Be, Grab and Gojek.

The survey shows that a driver’s fuel cost is 70,000 – 100,000 VND/day for a distance of 100 – 150 km. Meanwhile, the charging cost for drivers using the Green SM platform is only about 20,000 VND/day.

“Calculating other opportunity costs such as oil changes, each electric car driver saves at least VND40,000/day. With an average driving time of 25 days/month, each electric car driver saves VND1 million/month. The economic benefits are obvious,” said Mr. Hai.

According to Mr. Hai, the above survey figures have also been confirmed by drivers who switched from using gasoline to electric vehicles and they said that the amount of money saved is even more. This is the basis for HIDS to confirm the feasibility of the project.

Regarding the payment plan for the vehicle conversion, the HIDS representative calculated that if the old gasoline vehicle is sold at an average price of 8 million VND, the driver has paid 20-25% of the value of the new electric vehicle (about 30 million VND). The remaining 24 million VND, the driver can pay in installments over about 24-30 months.

"The installment payment is equivalent to a savings of 1 million VND/month when switching to electric vehicles," said Mr. Hai.

Ho Chi Minh City has an idea to convert 400,000 gasoline motorbikes for service to electric vehicles . Technology two-wheelers travel 3-4 times more frequently than normal people. According to the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies, they are the highest emission group in the city.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/khai-tu-400-000-xe-may-xang-tphcm-cho-tai-xe-vay-tien-mua-xe-dien-2422910.html