Launch of the pilot project in Hanoi as part of SOLUTIONSPlus

The SOLUTIONSplus project aims to facilitate the transition to sustainable urban mobility through innovative and integrated electric mobility solutions. It is funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and runs from January 2020 to December 2023. The project includes city-level demonstrations to test different types of innovative and integrated e-mobility solutions, complemented by a comprehensive toolkit for local government stakeholders, capacity building and replication activities. The project provides technical and financial support to the partner cities, with the consortium including some of the key players in the e-mobility industry and research.

CODATU is a partner in the SOLUTIONSPlus project, particularly in training, communication and capacity building activities, but is also involved in the pilot project in Hanoi, one of the ten demo cities. In Hanoi, the pilot project consists of providing an electric mobility solution to connect the last kilometer between the Van Khe BRT station and the Aeon Mall in Ha Dong. 50 electric scooters are made available to the public and can be booked through an application developed specifically for the project. CODATU is participating in the scaling up phase to go beyond the pilot project status and think about this project in the long term.

On November 28, the launch of this pilot project took place at the shopping mall site. The launching ceremony was organized by the local partner, the University of Transport Technology with the support of Clean Air Asia, the Wuppertal Institute and Urban Electric Mobility Initiative, with the presence of the Hanoi People’s Committee. CODATU was represented by Noémi Mené, mission officer. After the official ceremony, the different participants could test the electric scooters and ride to the BRT station. Local medias covered the launch with a video (in Vietnamese).

The afternoon was dedicated to a workshop conducted by the Dutch research institute TNO on key performance indicators for the various project stakeholders. On this occasion different indicators were presented to be able to best determine the impacts of this project once it is launched.

On November 29 and 30, a national workshop on electric mobility was then held, organized by the project partners in conjunction with the United Nations Development Program. The first day focused on integrating electric mobility into planning, electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. The second day focused on the electrification of urban transport. CODATU intervened on this occasion on the topic of governance of the transition to electric mobility at the local level. This included addressing the roles and responsibilities of governments in promoting electric mobility.

During these two days, national experts presented the specific challenges in Vietnam, including an energy mix still mainly made up of fossil energy, a national strategy not yet defined, a number of two-wheelers in circulation exceeding 60 million, but also the presence of a local vehicle manufacturer (Vinfast) that is positioned on electric vehicles (ranging from two-wheelers to buses). International case studies were also presented (Thailand, China, Netherlands). Participants in these days came from different local authorities of the country as well as from different institutes and research centers.

This mission was an opportunity for CODATU to meet again with partners of the SolutionsPlus project, to strengthen its links with the University of Transport Technology but also to consolidate its expertise and knowledge of electric mobility use cases in the world, and in particular on the Asian continent.