Vietnam confronts air pollution by switching to electric bicycles

An electric scooter has become a means of transportation that authorities in Vietnam encourage using to combat emissions that poison the country’s atmosphere and harm the health of the population.

A 19-year-old bike taxi driver says: “When I stop at intersections, my only desire is to go through the red light, because the smell of gasoline is terrible.” Stressing that the air quality in the Vietnamese capital is “unbearable.”

Two-wheelers, which account for 85% of road traffic according to official data, remain the most used private means of transportation by Vietnamese by far, but pollution may force them to reconsider their habits.

Switching to electric vehicles

In recent years, authorities have intensified initiatives to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles, to dispel the thick clouds of smog caused by emissions from thermal vehicles that shroud Hanoi for most of the year.

The government hopes that by 2030, a quarter of the country’s 77 million registered motorcycles or scooters will be replaced by electric bicycles.

300 thousand new vehicles

The International Energy Agency indicated that these vehicles represented only 9% of sales in 2023, although this trend has been growing in recent years.

The agency pointed out that Vietnam recorded 300,000 new vehicles in 2023, more than all of Europe, in a performance that exceeded that recorded in various parts of the world with the exception of China and India last year.

Truong Thi My Thanh, who specializes in transportation issues, sees a “ray of hope” in this area.

She explains that about 80% of electric bike owners are students who are particularly attracted to their low cost, as the price of a cheap bike of this type is approximately $500.

But the expert believes that the authorities’ incentives must be accompanied by policies for regional redevelopment, especially in terms of improving public transportation, warning that if this does not happen, “the problems will continue.”

Battery charging safety

Concerns also remain about the safety of charging batteries at home, while many recent fires have been attributed to electrical faults, sometimes due to failure to adhere to building standards.

In the face of these questions, VinFast, a national electric vehicle manufacturer, has developed about 150,000 charging stations throughout the country.

Vietnam currently relies mainly on coal and oil, which cover more than half of its electricity needs, but the government has set the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.