Need for at least 1,500 more fast charging stations
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, the bus system currently has 176 routes and 2,386 vehicles. Of which, 627 are electric buses (26.3%) and 451 are CNG (17.9%). The city has put into operation 5 electric bus charging stations with 56 super-fast charging stations.
In the passenger transport sector, Ho Chi Minh City has 18,613 taxis, of which 13,124 are electric taxis (71%). The number of technology motorbikes reached 88,742 vehicles, about 25,000 of which were electric motorbikes (28.1%).
Currently, the city has about 1,000 charging stations, of which V-Green alone operates 900 stations with 9,432 charging stations and 14,743 charging ports (including 4,792 car fast charging ports, 9,839 slow charging ports).
In addition, there are 300 motorbike fast charging stations with 9,000 charging ports and about 50 Selex Motors battery swapping points.
According to international recommendations, on average 10 electric cars need 1 charger and 50 electric motorbikes need 1 charger. With the number of existing vehicles, Ho Chi Minh City needs about 3,960 car charging stations and 1,740 motorbike charging stations.
The Department of Construction said that most of the city's car charging stations are slow charging, distributed unevenly by location, while electric vehicles for transportation account for 63.1% of the total number of electric cars. This leads to a shortage of fast charging stations, especially in areas with concentrated transportation services.
In the first 6 months of 2025, the city recorded 2,000 new electric cars and more than 3,000 new electric motorbikes each month. This growth rate puts great pressure on charging infrastructure.
The city aims to have all buses using electricity or environmentally friendly energy by 2030. In the next 5 years, Ho Chi Minh City will convert and invest in 3,011 electric and green energy buses, including 1,537 replacement vehicles and 1,474 new vehicles.
In addition to buses, the city will convert more than 400,000 gasoline motorbikes to electric motorbikes for technology drivers and delivery vehicles.
From now until 2030, all public cars and motorbikes of civil servants and public employees are expected to switch to electric vehicles.
According to the Department of Construction, to meet the demand, Ho Chi Minh City has identified the need to develop at least 1,500 more fast charging stations for cars in key locations, while expanding the network of electric motorbike battery exchanges in public areas and sidewalks.
Accelerating the construction of charging stations, battery exchange points
Mr. Bui Hoa An - Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction - said that to solve the challenge of charging infrastructure, Ho Chi Minh City is implementing many synchronous solutions.
The Department of Construction is coordinating with the United Nations Development Program in Vietnam (UNDP) to develop a Project to develop a public charging station system, aiming to promote the use of electric vehicles and contribute to the goal of net zero emissions by 2050. The project is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The Department of Construction has issued an official dispatch guiding the removal of obstacles related to the installation of charging stations, thereby creating conditions for units to speed up the implementation of charging stations in the area.
According to Mr. Bui Hoa An, the Department of Construction also established a Project to exploit traffic infrastructure assets to socialize the installation of charging stations at bus stations. At 19 bus stations, the bus station will be equipped with a charging system, of which 4 stations (District 8 Bus Station, Saigon, Cho Lon, Binh Thai) will install battery swaps for electric motorbikes.
At the same time, the City will develop criteria for installing charging stations and the Road Traffic Infrastructure Exploitation Project to call for socialization of investment in charging stations within the traffic land area.
Regarding financial support, Ho Chi Minh City plans to provide interest rate subsidies for businesses investing in charging stations in the Emission Control Project. The maximum support level includes 70% construction capital and 85% equipment capital, not exceeding 200 billion VND per project.
The leader of the Department of Construction said that in addition to VinFast, many automakers such as Geely, Ford, Honda, Yamaha, Selex Motors... are also expanding investment in charging stations and battery exchanges in Ho Chi Minh City, in which priority is given to the battery exchange model to reduce charging time for electric vehicles.
