Vietnam is getting a non-profit bus service with 3,000 electric buses

Vingroup, Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate joined the passenger transport sector with its establishment of VinBus, a non-profit bus service, with the objective of developing an environmentally friendly public transport system that will reduce emissions and noise pollution, reports VN Express. 

VinBus will operate a fleet of 3,000 electric buses in Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, and Can Tho starting from March 2020. The buses will be manufactured byVinFast, the automotive manufacturing arm of Vingroup, whereas the technology and components will be provided for by Siemens. The first electric bus expected to roll out before the end of 2019, the company said last year.

As a non-profit, VinBus pledged to reinvest all of its profit to improve the service quality and upgrade hardware as well as expand the service to other cities in Vietnam.

VinBus is not Vingroup’s first attempt at entering the electric vehicle market in Vietnam. Last year, VinFast appointed German development service provider EDAG to help it develop the country’s first electric vehicle prototype. So far, only a preliminary design sketch has been released.

Across the region, interest in electric vehicles is on the rise. Ride-hailing unicorn Grab already rolled out 20 electric vehicles in Singapore and is introducing some in Indonesia. Indonesian taxi group Blue Bird launched its first electric taxi fleet last month.