HCM City (VNA) - Ho Chi Minh City has set a target to transition some 400,000 ride-hailing gasoline motorcycles to electric vehicles by the end of 2029 under a freshly completed draft project.
The proposal, penned by the Department of Construction in collaboration with the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies (HIDS), will be submitted to the municipal People’s Committee this week. It aims to achieve a 100% reduction in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from this vehicle category.
According to a survey conducted by the institute in 2023, each e-hailing driver in the city travels an average of 80-120 kilometres daily, three to four times more than ordinary citizens. This means converting a driver's motorcycle to electric one has a significant impact on emission reduction compared to personal two-wheel vehicles.
Le Thanh Hai, Director of the HIDS’s Centre for Economic Application Consulting, said that converting this group to electric vehicles creates a ripple effect throughout society while helping drivers achieve substantial savings through reduced fuel and maintenance costs.
The project outlines specific phases with quantitative targets tied to concrete timelines, creating a foundation for measuring and evaluating progress and effectiveness during implementation. It aims for 30% conversion by the end of 2026, or some 120,000 vehicles; 80% by the end of 2027, or 320,000 vehicles; and 100% by the end of 2029, equivalent to around 400,000 vehicles. Following its merger with Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces, the city now has some 11 million vehicles, including 1.5 million cars.
The HIDS said that transport activities are considered one of the primary emission sources causing air pollution in the city. Alarmingly, urbanisation pressure has caused emission trends to continue rising in recent years, particularly regarding dust and noise pollution.
Without early intervention, total transport emissions could increase 2.6-fold to top 44 million tonnes of pollutants annually by 2030, experts from the Department of Agriculture and Environment warned, stressing the need for sustainable transport solutions such as transitioning to electric vehicles to improve environmental quality and protect public health.
Hai said that Ho Chi Minh City should enact priority policies, including financial support for drivers through VAT exemptions, registration fee waivers, and licence plate registration fee eliminations, along with easier access to low-interest loans.
The plan also encompasses preferential policies for electric vehicle manufacturers and energy infrastructure development, together with incentives to encourage investors to build charging stations and battery swap stations, he stated.
Experts also recommended policies for domestic electric vehicle and component manufacturers to receive import tax incentives for components, land use benefits, and development credit access. Besides, the city should establish a roadmap to ban fossil fuel two-wheel vehicles from passenger and freight transport services, ensuring drivers’ financial rights while promoting charging infrastructure investment.
Specifically, preferential policies will be implemented and the issuance of new operating licences to gasoline motorcycle drivers seeking to enter the ride-hailing market will stop from early 2026. From 2027, gasoline motorcycles will be restricted during peak hours in low-emission zones. From 2028, emission control policies will be tightened, and by the end of 2029, gasoline motorcycles will be completely banned from providing services on ride-hailing technology platforms.
The city currently has 600 public charging points, meeting less than 10% of the projected demand of 350,000-400,000 electric two-wheel vehicles in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to build 3,000 public charging and battery swap stations before December 2028./.
