Barriers to the Adoption of Integrating Electric Mobility Toward Commercial Transport in Vietnam

Road transport accounts for nearly 92.9% of the total cargo volume and 26.5% of the ton-kilometers of freight in Vietnam. As a result, road-based freight transport contributes nearly 7.2% of the country's emissions. Meanwhile, the entire transportation sector accounts for around 9% of Vietnam's emissions [1, 2]. In order to mitigate the impact of climate change on road transport, the adoption of environmentally sustainable practices is essential. However, research on environmentally sustainable commercial transport is still limited. This paper addresses this gap by introducing a quantitative model to examine the factors affecting the adoption of electric mobility in freight transport. The model takes into account drivers’ safety, economic, and subsidy concerns, which can help to bring the price-parity tipping point closer, thereby expediting the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in freight transport. The findings indicate that factors such as access to charging infrastructure, policy incentives, and drivers’ awareness of the environmental advantages are essential for achieving a widespread adoption of electric cargo vehicles.