SOON add more electric vehicle charging stations on highways
Mr. Manh Tuan - Director of a construction company in Phu Tho - said that he bought the VF8 electric vehicle from the beginning of 2025 and regularly travels to mountainous provinces such as Yen Bai and Lao Cai through the Hanoi - Lao Cai expressway.
Although this expressway has been arranged with some charging points, such as at Km117 rest stop with 3 charging ports with a capacity of 250kW and about 24 charging ports with a capacity of 60kW, or near some intersections that have also been equipped with charging stations, the number of charging points is still small. Especially, in the direction from Lao Cai to Phu Tho, Hanoi, large capacity charging pillars are almost non-existent, causing many electric vehicle drivers to be hesitant when traveling long distances.
In case there are no charging stations on the expressway, vehicles must leave the route to find charging stations in residential areas, sometimes having to travel quite a long distance, causing many inconveniences. I hope state management agencies will soon add electric vehicle charging stations on expressways" - Mr. Manh Tuan proposed.
Faced with the limited situation of the electric vehicle charging station system on highways, the Minister of Construction has issued a telegram requesting localities, the Vietnam Road Administration, transport infrastructure investors and rest stop investors to urgently complete electricity charging infrastructure at road rest stops, and promote the conversion of electric motor vehicles.
According to the review results of the Vietnam Road Administration, for 21 rest stops on the North-South Expressway in the East, investors have included electricity charging areas in the investment plan, and some units have built transformer stations and prepared backup power sources.
However, the implementation progress is still slow. To date, only 4/21 rest stops have put part of the electrical charging system into operation; 8/21 stations are being implemented, while the remaining 9 stations have not been installed. Notably, most stations have not determined the completion time of the electrical charging system.
Charging stations on highways need sufficient area to ensure safety
According to QCVN 43:2024/BGTVT - National technical regulation on road rest stops, the minimum number of parking positions that can arrange motor vehicles to charge at rest stops must account for 10% of the total number of parking positions.
However, in a document sent to the People's Committees of provinces and cities, Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC), Vietnam Infrastructure Development and Financial Investment Corporation (VIDIFI), along with investors and businesses operating road rest stop services, the Vietnam Road Administration not only requested investors to meet the minimum level according to regulations but also proposed to study and review actual needs to be able to arrange more charging locations than regulations.
For investors and businesses operating rest stop services subject to the transition under QCVN 43:2024/BGTVT, the Vietnam Road Administration requests to urgently supplement and organize implementation, ensuring the completion of the electrical charging system for road motor vehicles before January 1, 2027.
Commenting on the standards for charging stations and electric vehicle charging pillars, in an exchange with Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Huu Khoa - lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City Electricity College, and also a business investing in electric vehicle charging stations, said that power supply capacity and land area are two infrastructure factors that need to be concerned first.
In addition, because charging devices are installed outdoors and are often affected by sun and rain, electrical safety requirements must be put first, along with fire and explosion prevention standards.
When installing charging pillars, it is necessary to carry out all tests and experiments to assess whether the equipment meets safety standards or not. In which, it is necessary to check the grounding and connection system, the possibility of leaking electricity and factors related to electrical safety. It is necessary to have a monitoring plan in times when no one is on duty at the station.
With electric vehicle charging stations using solar energy, the advantage is that they can take advantage of the electricity generated during the period with good solar radiation, usually from about 9-10am to 3pm.
When electric vehicles are charged while the solar power system is generating electricity, the electricity cost for car charging can be reduced. This is also an optimal solution when building a charging station system" - Mr. Khoa said.
