Last year, VinFast set a goal of putting up 15,000 chargers throughout the Philippines to build up the country’s EV charging infrastructure. So far, the Vietnamese manufacturer has only been able to build around 1,000 (a figure which likely factors in those used exclusively by Green GSM.)
According to a report by ABS-CBN News, VinFast Philippines and Southeast Asia CEO Toti Zara is pinning the cause of their delayed EV charger rollout on inconsistent LGU requirements for releasing permits. Specifically, the friction is from how several LGUs classify EV charger installation in a parking lot as a building renovation, while others don’t.
“The issue is different LGUs have different requirements. ’Yun bang magkabit ng charger sa parking lot ng isang building, renovation ba ’yun na kailangan mo ng permit for renovation of building?” commented Zara, before proceeding to point out that installing a centralized air-conditioning system in a building didn’t require a similar permit.
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Despite these LGU woes, Zara chooses to understand where the regulations come from: “Public safety is their mandate. We can’t compromise that, and we ourselves don’t want that.” In the meantime, Zara expresses optimism with the Department of Energy’s effort to use the declared State of National Energy Emergency to streamline the process of processing EV charger permits.
Over the past two months of the fuel crisis, VinFast has experienced rapid growth thanks to a wave of promotions to help ease buyers into EV ownership, as well as aggressive price positioning. Last month’s sales report of cars sold in the country so far in 2026 saw VinFast at the top of the BEV chart with over a thousand units shifted.
This has led to some models running out of stock, including the VF3 subcompact crossover. However, Zara has been confident in VinFast’s supply chain being quick enough to source more units from Vietnam as demand surges.
