Young people, with conditions, calculate to switch to electric cars
Mr. Nguyen Van Hiep has been a Grab bike (motorbike) driver since 2019, working full-time. Currently, every day, running from 6am to 10pm, after deducting fuel and other expenses, Mr. Hiep earns an average of 400,000 - 500,000 VND. This amount of money not only helps Mr. Hiep cover personal expenses but also has a little savings.
The reason is that Mr. Hiep's house in Tam Hiep, Hanoi, so he does not have to worry about the rent. Mr. Hiep said that before becoming a Grab bike driver, he studied electrical engineering but wanted to have money to make his own, so he asked his parents for money to buy a motorbike and then completed the procedures to register to run Grab bike.
Having been running Grab bike for nearly 6 years, Mr. Hiep now intends to switch to grab car (car) because he wants to run more provincial routes or airports. This intention arose at the same time as information that by July 1, 2026, only electric vehicles will be circulating in the city's Ring Road 1.
According to Mr. Hiep's calculation, the cost to buy an electric car is about 500 million VND. The cost of charging the battery at one time is about 250,000 VND (when starting to charge without charging). Each day of running an electric car will earn an average of 2,000,000 VND. The investment to buy a car was supported by Mr. Hiep's family, from the money compensated when the State took the land to build a road. Therefore, Mr. Hiep decided to learn to drive a car.
Mr. Hiep shared that even in the case of not considering switching to electric cars, he also considered switching to electric motorbikes because it would be more economical. What Mr. Hiep is worried about is "if there are only electric vehicles, will charging stations be able to meet the charging needs, if they do not have to wait in line to charge, it will take half a day to run customers" - Mr. Hiep said.
When asked why many Grab car drivers have switched to gra gra gra gra bike but he calculated the opposite, Mr. Hiep replied: In fact, after following and seeing that Grab cars use gasoline, the amount of money earned is not profitable compared to the running rate of Grab bike, so someone has switched from cars to motorbikes.
People of old are wondering
Not all Grab drivers have the conditions and calculations to switch from Grab bike to Grab car using electric cars like Mr. Hiep, especially those who are old. Mr. Le Van Toan is such a case.
Mr. Toan was born in 1971, from Nam Dinh, and has been working in Hanoi since 1991. At first, he drove a motorbike taxi, but when he had a technology car, he registered to switch. Mr. Toan got married, his wife worked as a scrap collector. The couple saved money and, with the help of their family, since the early 2000s, they have bought a piece of land in Ha Dong to build a roof.
Now the couple are renting that house, near Nga Tu So to rent a house. Mr. Toan said he was lucky to rent a house at the end of the alley, cheap because the owner's family settled abroad, just needing a tenant to avoid breaking the house.
Thanks to that, Mr. Toan and his wife earn 10 million VND per month from the rent of a house in Ha Dong. Now that his two children are grown up and working, the couple still work hard every day. Mr. Toan said that he can still drive Grab while he is healthy, but now he is not sick at home, so even though it is difficult, he still drives every day. Each day, he earns about 300,000 VND.
Since the information about the no-traffic of gasoline-powered vehicles in Hanoi's Ring Road 1 was released, Mr. Toan has been calculating a lot. According to him, the conversion is the right one because it will contribute to environmental cleaning. But he was also very concerned because to continue working, he would have to buy an electric motorbike. The cost of buying a car is about 25 - 30 million VND; then calculating the wear and tear time, the durability of the car, the battery life... are the issues that make him wonder.
People like Mr. Hiep, Mr. Toan as well as Grab drivers, including Grab bike or Grab cars, who are workers in the informal sector, are all in the process of calculating to convert to suit the new requirements. Because that is the way they have made a living for many years.
The Hanoi Department of Construction has just reported to the City People's Committee on the conversion of green means of transportation and electric vehicle charging station infrastructure in the area. Accordingly, the Department has sent a document to relevant departments, branches and units to collect comments on the draft Resolution on converting green vehicles and developing the charging station system of the City People's Council. The draft is in the process of being finalized to submit to the City People's Committee to report to the People's Council for consideration and approval at the September 2025 meeting, under the direction of the City People's Committee and People's Council.
Some outstanding policies in the draft Resolution include: Direct financial support for people with gasoline or diesel motorbikes (registered before the Resolution takes effect) in low-emission zones, when switching to green vehicles (worth from 15 million VND or more).
The support level is 3 million VND/vehicle for normal individuals; 4 million VND/vehicle for near-poor households; 5 million VND/vehicle for poor households. Each individual is supported with a maximum of 1 vehicle until the end of 2030.
Support preferential loans with interest rates from 3 - 5%/year, a limit of 100% of contract value, a maximum loan term of 5 years for public service units; Passenger transport units (except buses) and freight transport; Enterprises invest in facilities to recover and recycle used vehicles.
Exemption from 100% of registration fees and license plate registration fees for green vehicles from the effective date of the Resolution until the end of 2030.
Huu Chanh
