Vietnam is about to have cheap electric cars?

Electric cars could be the new direction for Vietnam's auto industry.

For over 20 years, Vietnam has been pursuing the automobile industry but has failed. Now, many domestic and foreign giants want to invest in producing electric cars in Vietnam. Many opinions say that this could be a new direction, a breakthrough for the sluggish Vietnamese automobile industry. However, getting electric cars on the roads in Vietnam is not easy.

Many big guys join in

The “giant” Vingroup recently announced its goal of becoming the leading automobile manufacturer in Southeast Asia with a designed capacity of up to 500,000 vehicles/year by 2025. Its main products are internal combustion engine cars, electric cars and environmentally friendly electric motorbikes. The first product to be launched within the next 12 months will be electric motorbikes and after 24 months, cars.

Not only Vingroup, many major automobile companies in the world have planned to invest in producing electric vehicles in Vietnam. For example, Mr. Osamu Masuko, CEO of Mitsubishi Motor Corporation of Japan, recently expressed his intention to develop advanced technology products for electric cars in Vietnam.

"This product is suitable for the Vietnamese market, with the goal of using energy economically, effectively and protecting the environment" - Mr. Osamu Masuko said.

The electric car market in Vietnam is just beginning to take shape. In the photo: An electric car model was introduced at the recent 2017 Vietnam Auto Show.

Similarly, a memorandum of understanding on investment cooperation was recently signed between the US-based DiMora Enterprises, LLC Group and the Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee on the construction of the first electric car factory in Vietnam. The total investment capital of this project is about 500 million USD with an initial capacity of about 10,000 cars/year, mainly 5-7 seat electric cars.

Notably, an automobile company (who did not want to be named) revealed that next year it will pilot the construction of an electric charging station system to bring electric cars to the Vietnamese market.

Mr. Vu Do Thanh, representative of Mercedes Benz Vietnam in Hanoi, said that up to now, the introduction of electric cars to Vietnam has only stopped at introducing technology because the infrastructure in Vietnam has not met the conditions to bring electric cars to the market. Therefore, the investment of some large corporations in producing electric cars is a positive signal for the Vietnamese automobile industry.

Will dreams come true?

Auto expert Nguyen Minh Dong believes that the fact that some big companies are investing heavily in automobiles has had a positive impact on the supporting industry, and the move towards electric cars is even more encouraging. This is an inevitable trend in countries around the world and Vietnam cannot be outside this trend.

“The price of electric cars is currently very expensive. In Europe, the price of electric cars is twice that of gasoline cars. If domestic corporations can do it, the price of electric cars will definitely be cheaper and Vietnamese people will easily accept it,” Mr. Dong shared.

Agreeing with this view, some car manufacturers believe that the current cost of producing electric cars is high, but when the production of fossil fuel cars decreases, giving way to electric cars, the cost of electric cars will be cheaper. This is the opportunity for electric cars.

However, producing electric cars is not easy. According to Mr. Nguyen Minh Dong, electric cars are an industry that requires high safety technology. In addition, electric cars need an infrastructure system of electric charging stations because electric cars can currently only run 200-300 km per charge. If Vietnam does not have a charging station system, it will be difficult for electric cars to develop widely.

Therefore, Mr. Dong believes that to develop the electric car industry, the Government should start by supporting businesses or reducing taxes to invest in infrastructure, maintenance stations, charging stations, etc.

According to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), electric cars are a new development trend in the world automobile industry and are expected to grow strongly. Many manufacturers are in the testing phase, with only a few mass-producing. Therefore, it is necessary to remove overly rigid management regulations that can hinder creativity and hinder research and testing capabilities.

According to Ho Chi Minh City Law Newspaper