Speaking on infrastructure development, CEO Nguyen Thanh Duong stated that “where charging stations go, electric vehicles will follow.” He likened charging stations to “21st-century gas stations,” aligned with the global shift from fossil fuels to electric mobility.

Just 18 months after its founding, V-Green has expanded into five countries: Vietnam, Laos, the Philippines, India, and Indonesia - with Indonesia currently experiencing the fastest growth.

“In Vietnam, our charging infrastructure is the largest in Southeast Asia. The number of charging guns is three times that of Thailand,” Duong said.

He revealed that numerous curbside charging stations will appear in Ho Chi Minh City in Q4 2025. V-Green has partnered with many large corporations to use their retail spaces for installing charging points and battery swapping cabinets.

A billion-dollar infrastructure challenge

Regarding the battery swapping project, Duong shared that it took four presentations to Vingroup Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong before receiving approval.

Why was a project that offers such clear benefits met with hesitation?

Duong explained that the domestic market for electric batteries and swapping cabinets is enormous. Vietnam has approximately 80 million gasoline-powered motorbikes. If all were to convert to electric, the country would need 150 million onboard batteries and an additional 150 million in circulation to support swapping operations.

That’s a total of 300 million batteries. At a cost of $200 per battery, the total investment in electric batteries alone would reach approximately $60 billion.

In addition, each battery swapping cabinet costs about $5,000, and to support 80 million electric motorbikes, Vietnam would need around 500,000 cabinets, requiring another $2.5 billion in investment.

These staggering figures were the main reason Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong initially hesitated.

However, on the fourth attempt, Duong convinced him by presenting a scalable, shared-investment model.

V-Green's plan is to mobilize social capital through a franchising model for charging stations, inviting investors to co-develop the infrastructure. This approach would significantly ease the capital burden.

According to Duong, VinFast currently has about 270,000 electric vehicles on the road, including 80,000 units operated by Xanh SM. The rest are privately owned.

Xanh SM, he said, has transformed the face of urban mobility in Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines. “Next year, Xanh SM will expand to 17 countries,” he added at the event.

Regarding EV charging infrastructure, Duong affirmed that major cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang have already allocated prime locations for V-Green charging stations.

As of now, V-Green owns 150,000 charging ports, which meet current demand for VinFast vehicles. However, Duong noted that the domestic ratio is one charging gun for every four vehicles, while in China, the ratio is 1:2.5. This shows Vietnam still lags behind in charging infrastructure. V-Green aims to expand to 500,000 charging ports within the next three years.

Cultural and behavioral shifts remain a challenge

For electric two-wheelers, Hoang Ha, Deputy General Director of VinFast’s Electric Motorcycle Business and Marketing Division, acknowledged that changing consumer habits remains difficult. With 80 million gasoline-powered motorbikes nationwide, emissions remain high.

He noted that although VinFast entered the market in 2017, the company struggled for years due to low sales. In contrast, Japanese FDI enterprises have led Vietnam’s two-wheeler market for decades.

However, consumers are now starting to recognize the advantages of electric mobility. “As of 2025, VinFast’s electric motorbike sales have reached second place in the Vietnamese market,” Ha stated. He emphasized that the biggest challenge now is meeting surging customer demand.

He projected that demand for electric motorbikes could rise to 2 million units per year starting in 2026. VinFast aims to supply at least 1.5 million vehicles to capture the top market position. To support this goal, the company has upgraded its Hai Phong factory to a capacity of 1 million units, and its Ha Tinh plant to 2 million.

Policy alignment and state support still needed

Pham Binh An, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies (HIDS), stressed the need for synchronized infrastructure in the transition to electric mobility and clean energy.

While Vingroup companies are proactively leading in charging infrastructure, An noted that this initiative also highlights a lack of alignment among stakeholders.

He urged the government to play a more active leadership role - not just through administrative orders, but with concrete actions. For example, state agencies could introduce financial tools to encourage people to adopt electric vehicles.

The electrification of transportation must be coordinated across governments, businesses, and individual vehicle owners, he concluded.

Tran Chung