The plan to convert 400,000 gasoline-powered motorbikes to electric vehicles in Ho Chi Minh City, focusing on ride-hailing and delivery drivers, marks a significant step in the city’s efforts to cut emissions. Yet, an essential question must be asked: Do electric vehicles truly protect the environment and public health better than gasoline-powered ones, or are we merely shifting the risks from one form to another without addressing the root causes?
It is undeniable that electric vehicles do not emit CO₂, SOx, NOx, or fine particulate matter during operation. This is particularly important in large cities where air pollution from transportation is a leading cause of respiratory diseases, cardiovascular issues, and even cancer. Replacing hundreds of thousands of gasoline-powered motorbikes with electric ones will significantly reduce urban pollution and improve public health—especially for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, children, pregnant women, and the very drivers working long hours on the streets.
However, if we zoom out and examine the entire lifecycle of an electric vehicle—from resource extraction and manufacturing to usage and disposal—the picture becomes more complex. Lithium-ion batteries, the heart of electric vehicles, are made from rare and finite metals like lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese. Mining these materials consumes vast amounts of water, damages ecosystems, and often sparks social conflict. For example, most of the world’s cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where tens of thousands of artisanal miners—including children—work in dangerous, unregulated conditions, largely invisible in the global supply chain.
In South America, extracting lithium from saltwater brine is depleting groundwater supplies, pushing Indigenous communities into crises over drinking water and agriculture. In countries like China and Indonesia, where cobalt and nickel are refined, workers are exposed daily to toxic dust and hazardous chemicals, increasing the risk of respiratory, neurological, and skin disorders. These are the hidden costs of a product labeled as “green.”
On the other hand, while the petroleum industry is undeniably polluting, it often has stronger labor protections and unions—especially in developed countries. That said, the risk of accidents and exposure to toxic gases like methane, hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), and volatile organic compounds still looms large over oil rig workers and engineers.
Back in Vietnam, an emerging concern is the increasing number of fire incidents related to electric vehicle battery charging. Several recent fires in boarding houses and mini-apartments in Ho Chi Minh City have been linked to unsafe charging practices, substandard equipment, or overnight charging without proper supervision. In contrast, gasoline-powered vehicles—while polluting—are supported by a long-established system of repair shops, fuel stations, and safety protocols, offering a level of technical assurance to users.
It must also be acknowledged that gasoline vehicles offer practical advantages: quick refueling, wide availability of spare parts, and affordable maintenance. Electric vehicles, by contrast, rely on batteries that are expensive, degrade over time, and remain difficult to recycle sustainably.
Internationally, many countries are adopting electric vehicles, but they do not treat them as a silver bullet. In the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany, governments are heavily investing in cycling infrastructure, reducing car dependence, and redesigning cities for pedestrians. Norway—where the majority of new cars sold are electric—has succeeded only because its national grid is powered almost entirely by renewable hydropower and because of strong fiscal and tax incentives. Meanwhile, China, despite its rapid EV expansion, is struggling with mounting battery waste and rising fire incidents due to weak oversight of the supply chain.
For Vietnam, the EV transition cannot occur in isolation. Without synchronized policies—such as greening the national power grid, building a robust battery recycling system, enforcing safety standards for charging, and protecting labor rights in the battery supply chain—we risk facing new, complex environmental, social, and safety issues.
In the end, the real question is not simply “Which vehicle is better?” but rather “What kind of transportation and energy ecosystem are we building?” A sustainable society cannot be achieved merely by swapping vehicles—it requires a deeper shift in development thinking: reducing reliance on private vehicles, investing in public transit, expanding infrastructure for bicycles and pedestrians, and ensuring a just transition that leaves no worker behind in the green energy revolution.
