Mr. Nguyen Trong Thuan, living in Ho Chi Minh City, has been with Xanh SM since the end of 2023. He started as a Feliz S driver for Xanh SM, then collaborated with a brother who invested in a charging station combined with a resting place for the driver brothers. Recently, he decided to order a VinFast VF 5 Plus to participate in Xanh SM Platform. Lao Dong had an interview with Mr. Nguyen Trong Thuan.
Running services by electric vehicle, operating costs are equal to 1/3 of gasoline and oil vehicles
I used to be a bike driver, then bought a VF 5 Plus to participate in Xanh SM Platform. What is the reason why you decided to change from 2 cakes to 4 cakes?
- I used to be a driver for Xanh SM Bike for more than a year, using a Feliz S. Recently, I started to learn about electric cars and saw that my income was better, so I bought VF 5 Plus to register for Xanh SM Platform.
The switch from Bike to Car must be the result of careful calculations, even from real examples that ears and eyes have seen?
- That's right. During my time as an electric motorbike driver for Xanh SM, I knew that my brothers who ran "Car" for Xanh SM had a much higher income than other taxi companies. There are many interesting stories. For example, a man once fell into debt, but thanks to running Xanh SM for a few years, he now not only has enough money to pay off his debt but also has enough money to buy an electric car to both use personally and participate in Xanh SM Platform. Such stories motivated me. In particular, in terms of cost savings, electric vehicles make a strong impression on them.
Before that, I borrowed a VF 5 Plus from a friend to go from Ho Chi Minh City to Quang Ngai and then back to Ho Chi Minh City, traveling 1,500km. The journey was so long, but the total charging cost was only 900,000 VND, while the Kia Sedona, the diesel engine I used to drive, cost nearly 3 million VND for oil. The modest cost of the VF 5 Plus is less than 1/3 of the Kia Sedona diesel engine. That trip also had a significant impact on my decision to buy a car to run Xanh SM Platform.
Car owner upgraded, double income of other brands
Did you say that you switched from electric motorbikes to electric cars to increase your income, is it really as expected?
- With the same amount of time spent driving, the income from driving a Car is twice as much as driving bike. The first week I run for a total of 24 hours, earning 3-4 million VND, equal to the income of running bike for 60 hours.
Currently, because the charging station combined with the SM Green driver brothers rest stop is open during the day, we only run from 8pm to 1-2am. The amount of money earned is about 800,000-1,000,000 VND after deducting all expenses.
A few years ago, I took a technology taxi by private vehicle, which was a Kia Sportage with a gasoline engine. Comparison, the income of the taxi drivers of other taxi companies is not as high as Xanh SM. During the same driving period, the income of drivers of other taxi companies was only about half that of SM Blue drivers.
This difference is mainly due to the high operating cost of gasoline vehicles, while VinFast electric cars are being charged free until June 2027. With the same fee, gasoline and oil vehicle owners have to pay more for fuel and maintenance costs than electric vehicle owners.
In addition, Xanh SM is developing faster and stronger than other technology taxi companies, so the number of customers is also increasing. The price is the same, but when customers use it through other brands, they often prefer SM-BSH blue. The first is quiet, quiet electric vehicles. Second is the better quality of service because all SM Green drivers have undergone a thorough training course before working.
Does using an electric vehicle make you have any difficulties, especially on long trips?
- Not at all. Traveling 1,500 km from Ho Chi Minh City to Quang Ngai, I find it convenient, in the city, this is even easier because the V-Green station system is now everywhere.
The vehicle only takes 30-45 minutes to fully charge. When you feel tired, turn on the charger and take a break, regenerate energy to continue running. Before, when I took a technology taxi on a Kia Sportage, when I felt tired, I still had to run home to rest before continuing, because no one would run continuously for hundreds of kilometers without sleeping.
For a service car driver, calculating a refund is very important. How do you calculate this problem?
- I bought a car in installments, it is estimated that it will take about 2 years to get my car back if I work hard. Many brothers in the industry are trying very hard to "pull" this period to take advantage of VinFast's free charging policy.
Thank you for sharing!
