Vietnam: Hanoi electrifies three bus routes

The Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, has electrified the bus lines 05,39, and 47. A total of 46 electric buses now serve these lines. The latter are supplied by a local manufacturer.

Specifically, the electric bus fleet includes 35 “medium-sized buses” with enough seats for up to 60 passengers and eleven small buses that seat up to 30 people. The Hanoi Transport Corporation (Transerco) does not specify the make and model of the electric buses, however, press images show the all-electric VinBus.

The latter is manufactured by the Vietnamese company VinFast in Haiphong. According to VinFast, the buses have a battery capacity of up to 218 kWh, allowing them to travel as far as 260 kilometres on one charge. Charging takes two hours.

VinBus announced in 2019 that it would build 3,000 electric buses for Vietnam. Now, they are piloted in the Vietnamese capital. Hanoi plans to convert its entire bus fleet to electric by 2030.

Even though these buses are now piloted in Hanoi, they are not the first of its kind there. In 2020, Star Charge signed a deal with VinBus to provide charging infrastructure for the electric buses in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Phu Quoc. At the time, VinBus said it would set up electric bus fleets of 150 to 200 units in these cities.

transerco.com.vn (in Vietnamese)