Domestic electric vehicle development trend
Mr. Dao Cong Quyet - Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA) - said that Vietnam aims to ensure overall economic and social efficiency as well as environmental requirements and energy-saving trends by 2035.
Accordingly, Vietnam sets a target that by 2035, total vehicle production will reach about 1,531,400 units, of which 9-seat vehicles will be about 852,600 units, 10-seat vehicles or more will be about 84,400 units, trucks will be about 587,900 units, and specialized vehicles will be about 6,500 units. The proportion of domestically assembled vehicles accounts for about 78% of domestic demand.
To achieve the above goals, the Strategy provides orientations such as encouraging investment in projects large enough to create a market for supporting industries; encouraging the production of environmentally friendly vehicles that meet emission standards according to the roadmap approved by the Prime Minister.
Sharing about this issue, Dr. Nguyen Van Hoi - Director of the Institute for Strategic Research and Industry and Trade Policy - said that currently, more and more countries are returning to the policy of promoting domestic industrial production, including the automobile industry, to replace imported goods, tightening regulations on localization rates and subsidizing export goods.
Another issue that the auto industry needs to address is the environment and sustainable development. Currently, the global trend is focusing on research and development of environmentally friendly, “green” cars.
Thus, it can be seen that the development of domestic electric vehicles is a trend and also an urgent requirement in the current period.
However, according to the Institute of Transport Strategy and Development, the number of electric cars has not yet met expectations. Policies supporting the implementation of electric cars are still quite limited.
Build on strong policies
To promote the development of electric vehicles in the domestic market, Dr. Nguyen Van Hoi said that first of all, it is necessary to focus on policies on electric vehicle prices.
Currently, there is almost no policy to encourage the development of electric vehicles in Vietnam. Electric vehicles have so far only received preferential special consumption tax rates, at 15%, lower than conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles (35 - 50%). The government is proposing to reduce the special consumption tax rate for battery-powered electric vehicles by 5 - 12 percentage points in the first 5 years after the law amendment takes effect.
However, the special consumption tax rate is not enough to create a strong push for green vehicles such as electric cars.
Therefore, the Government's policy support for electric vehicle development is essential. In the first 10 years, the Government needs to have support policies, tax and fee incentives to stimulate demand and have policies to support the development of fast charging stations, home charging stations...
Authorities need to focus on developing infrastructure (power sources, charging stations, batteries and battery processing...). Currently, the charging station system for electric vehicles in Vietnam is mainly invested by VinFast, there is almost no infrastructure for electric vehicle development in Vietnam. In addition to upgrading the road traffic system, the growth of charging infrastructure is the core of electric vehicle development.
The government needs to develop a charging station plan in relation to the grid infrastructure, especially the low-voltage grid to connect to fast charging stations. There needs to be a policy to support and encourage manufacturers to invest in charging station systems and develop electric vehicle charging stations integrated with solar energy similar to what other countries are doing.
Vietnam needs to apply some policies to encourage people to buy electric cars. In the world, countries have a very systematic roadmap and policies for developing electric cars and always update policies with the development reality. Such as policies to encourage manufacturers, support people with a certain amount of money if they buy a car for the first time... Therefore, the State needs to be proactive in building and implementing policies, having measures to support people to buy electric cars for the first time, support people to switch from gasoline cars to electric cars...
