Vietnam’s love affair with gas bikes is colliding with a new electric reality

Vietnam is racing to electrify its motorbike market, one of the largest in Southeast Asia with 77 million bikes on the road. The capital Hanoi plans to ban gasoline-powered motorcycles from its city center in 2026, and Ho Chi Minh City is weighing a similar move. The government hopes a third of Vietnam's cars and a fifth of its motorbikes will run on electricity by 2030. But challenges remain: gas-powered bikes are far cheaper and many worry about range and charging. Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast and smaller startups see a massive opportunity, but big players like Honda and Yamaha say the timeline is too fast.