The conversion plan and support policy for converting public passenger transport vehicles to buses using electricity and green energy are being consulted by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport with the Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and related departments, agencies and sectors.
Ho Chi Minh City currently has 138 bus routes with nearly 2,209 buses. Of these, the buses used on the routes mostly run on diesel (1,663 buses), 528 buses run on compressed natural gas (CNG) and only 18 are electric buses .
According to the plan of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport, the bus conversion will be implemented from 2025 and end in 2030. During this period, Ho Chi Minh City will invest in nearly 3,000 electric buses , with the goal of gradually replacing existing diesel and CNG buses.
In 6 years (2025-2030), a total of 2,771 electric buses will be deployed. Of these, 1,663 vehicles will be replaced for existing bus routes and the remaining 1,108 vehicles will be newly invested for newly opened routes.
The roadmap is divided into several small phases. From 2025 to 2029, diesel and CNG buses will continue to operate until the end of their contracts. After that, they will be completely replaced by electric buses. In particular, new bus routes opened from 2025 onwards will be 100% electric and green energy.
In addition to investing in vehicles, Ho Chi Minh City is also focusing on developing infrastructure to serve the electric bus system. The Department of Transport has proposed a plan to build 25 electric charging stations across the city. Each charging station will be equipped with 269 charging posts (4 charging devices/post), with a capacity of 480 kW per post.
To encourage transport businesses to participate in this transformation process, Ho Chi Minh City has also proposed many financial support policies.
Enterprises investing in electric buses will be allowed to borrow up to 85% of the total project investment (maximum 300 billion VND/project), with a fixed interest rate of 3%. The difference between the market interest rate and this fixed interest rate will be supported by the city budget. The interest rate support period shall not exceed 7 years.
In addition, businesses investing in electric buses are also exempted from registration fees for new vehicles; reduced special consumption tax for the first 5 years; 100% support for import tax on equipment and spare parts; direct subsidy of part of the vehicle when buying new vehicles,...
For businesses participating in infrastructure investment, charging stations will be supported with 5% interest rate (maximum 7 years); land rent exemption for the area where charging stations are located,...
To successfully implement this electric bus conversion plan, Ho Chi Minh City needs a huge amount of funding, estimated at more than VND 34,000 billion in the period 2025 - 2030. On average, each year, the city will need about VND 5,667 billion to invest in electric buses and build a charging station system.
In addition, about VND750 billion will be disbursed from the 2031-2036 period to support loan interest rates for businesses investing in electric bus vehicles and infrastructure.
