Vietnam plans end to fossil-fuel car manufacturing from 2040

Vietnam will stop manufacturing, assembling and importing fossil-fuel cars and motorcycles for domestic use from 2040 onwards. All road vehicles will go green by 2050.

The massive shift will be part of the country’s efforts to achieve its net zero emissions target by 2050, as committed by the Prime Minister.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh approved on Friday the Action Program on green energy transformation and the transport sector’s carbon and methane emission reduction.

Accordingly, a transportation system using green electricity and other forms of green energy will be developed nationwide.

By 2050, all road vehicles will run on electric or other forms of green energy. All bus stations and rest stops will meet green criteria. All machinery and equipment for loading and unloading will also use green electricity or energy.

To serve the transition from gasoline-fuelled cars to electric vehicles, charging station infrastructure will be built nationwide, meeting the needs of people and businesses.

All new buses used for public transportation must use green electricity or energy by 2025. The public transport system in Hanoi will account for 50% of total passenger transport, while the corresponding figure for Ho Chi Minh City and Danang will be 25% and 35%, respectively. By 2050, all buses and taxis will go electric.

From now until 2030, the government will study and pilot the use of railways using green electricity or other forms of green energy on current routes and invest in building new railway lines in the direction of electrification. By 2050, all locomotives and wagons will use electricity.

Under the action program, by 2050, Vietnam will use 100% green energy and sustainable aviation fuel for its aircraft.

In November 2021, addressing the Climate Summit within the framework of COP26 in Glasgow, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had pledged that Vietnam will strive to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

The World Bank’s Country Climate and Development Report for Vietnam, released in early July, underscores the urgency of adaptation to climate change, combined with policies and public and private investments to reduce the carbon intensity of growth.

To help Vietnam achieve its development goals while implementing its climate commitments, the report proposes actions on two fronts: adapting to climate impacts and pursuing a growth strategy that steers the economy away from carbon-intensive production.

“These two paths will help the country achieve its climate objectives while expanding its GDP per capita by more than 5% a year, the average rate needed to become a high-income country by 2045,” it said.

VinFast, Vietnam's first fully fledged domestic car manufacturer, in mid July ceased taking new orders for fossil-fuel vehicles and will start going fully electric from September, the firm stated in a release. With the official cessation of production and trading of gasoline cars in the near future, VinFast will become the first and only purely electric car company in Vietnam.