아세안

Future sustainable mobilities are emerging in public discourses in Vietnam, Southeast Asia’s third most populous country and one of the first three late developing countries to commit to net zero carbon by 2050. In response to the global push towards low-emission transport, Vietnam has flipped from being a significant fossil fuel producer to having a strategic plan for becoming a net zero carbon partner. This policy shift includes a top-down commitment to developing the electric vehicle (EV) market in Vietnam. This article maps academic literature and public discourses in the online news media about EV development and consumer attitudes to EV adoption in Vietnam’s domestic market. We find that, despite policy settings to achieve net carbon zero, economic drivers outweigh environmental concerns in the emerging EV market. Drawing on Baudrillard’s consumer society, we find that the use value of EVs is more important at the current time than the sign value associated with prestige, lifestyle and pro-environmental behaviours. The article concludes with recommendations for future research to unpack social and policy issues in the emerging EV market in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.