Electric Vehicle Charging Race
With the global electric vehicle sales forecast to reach 56 million by 2040, the demand for accessible public charging infrastructure is expected to rise significantly – not only to serve the growing number of vehicles, but also to convince potential customers that they can switch to electric vehicles without worrying about running out of battery on the highway.
According to Statista’s 2022 report on public charging ports, China has the most charging ports with nearly 1.8 million, including over 760,000 fast-charging ports, serving a population of over 1.4 billion.
Billions of dollars in government funding previously invested in lowering car prices are now being focused, in part, on expanding the number of charging stations, making charging as easy as buying a bottle of water.
China’s national deployment program has led to some provinces having more charging stations than European countries. Western regions of Xinjiang have more public charging stations than Turkey or Hungary, while Tibet has more than Belarus and Serbia.
Meanwhile, the US has over 131,000 public electric vehicle charging ports as of 2023, according to BI. This is equivalent to about 3 charging ports per 10,000 people in the US. This density is even lower in remote and economically disadvantaged areas.
The number of charging ports in other countries is also significant: South Korea has over 200,000, the Netherlands has over 120,000, France has around 84,000, and Germany has 77,000 public charging ports.
In Thailand, the largest automotive market in Southeast Asia, as of September 2021, there were about 2,285 charging ports nationwide. By August 2022, the Thai government plans to increase the number of charging stations from 994 to 1,394 over the next 9 years.
Singapore is also one of the countries making a strong shift to electric vehicles. As of July 2022, there were about 2,500 electric vehicle charging ports installed in Singapore, with the majority of the 5.4 million population living in high-rise apartments. Therefore, charging electric vehicles largely depends on public charging infrastructure. The Singaporean government aims to have 40,000 public charging ports by 2023.
Globally, it is projected that there will be about 20 million public charging points installed by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.
Vietnam Accelerates
Compared to developed countries, Vietnam has been late to the electric vehicle adoption trend. The first public electric vehicle charging stations in the country were deployed by the VinFast brand in December 2021, and today it is the brand with the largest charging station coverage in Vietnam.
By December 2023, VinFast has developed a charging station system with over 150,000 charging ports for electric motorcycles and electric cars, spanning across 63 provinces in Vietnam, appearing on 106 national highways and expressways, with an average spacing of about 3.5 km in 80 cities across the country. Charging stations typically include ports with different power levels, ranging from standard to ultra-fast.
Therefore, the number of VinFast electric vehicle charging stations and ports is leading in Southeast Asia, surpassing the United States and China in terms of charging port density per unit area and population. With a planned 150,000 charging ports equivalent to 100 million people, there are an average of 15 charging ports per 10,000 people in Vietnam. This number is 5 times higher than that of the US and 12 charging ports per 10,000 people in China.
VinFast’s large number and wide coverage of public charging stations are still a strong point that the Vietnamese brand brings to users.
Recently, to maximize support for VinFast’s global expansion, Mr. Pham Nhat Vuong, Chairman of Vingroup and founder of VinFast, announced the establishment of V-GREEN Global Charging Station Development Company. One of V-GREEN’s goals is to support VinFast’s rapid global expansion and make Vietnam one of the countries with the largest electric vehicle charging station density in the world.
In the initial stage, V-GREEN will directly search for locations and partners to establish and expand charging station networks in key markets around the world, as well as collaborate with third-party charging station providers to provide charging services for VinFast electric vehicle owners.
In Vietnam, V-GREEN will be responsible for operating and managing VinFast’s existing charging station system, and will invest an additional VND 10,000 billion over the next 2 years to build new and upgrade existing charging infrastructure.
