Vietnam adopts QCVN 32:2026/BCT for electric-vehicle charging stations

The regulation covers infrastructure serving battery-electric and plug-in hybrid road vehicles at public locations, concentrated parking areas, rest stops and comparable sites. Its electrical scope extends to equipment with nominal voltage up to 1,000 volts alternating current or 1,500 volts direct current.

Affected economic operators include organisations and individuals that manufacture, assemble, import, distribute or place charging posts on the Vietnamese market. Project owners, designers, construction contractors and station operators are also within scope, reflecting a lifecycle approach rather than a product-only standard.

Technical provisions address protection against electric shock, overload and short circuit, residual-current protection, emergency isolation, earthing, lightning and fire safety. Equipment must also support appropriate monitoring, fault warnings and data retention. User interfaces and operating instructions must be available in Vietnamese. Cybersecurity and personal-data protections apply to connected functions.

What applies later and what remains outside scope

The new technical duties apply from 1 July 2027. Charging stations lawfully installed before that date may continue operating under the transition provision. This is not an exemption from ongoing safety responsibility: owners and operators must maintain equipment, carry out necessary servicing and respond directly to hazards.

The regulation excludes stations located entirely inside buildings, including basement and semi-basement facilities. It also excludes wireless and on-board charging, rail and industrial applications, equipment used internally for research or testing, and internal non-commercial stations. Businesses should classify mixed-use sites carefully because a publicly accessible installation may not qualify for the internal-use exclusion.

Manufacturers and importers should review product designs, components, labels, Vietnamese-language information and technical files. Developers and operators should incorporate the requirements into site design, electrical protection, commissioning, maintenance and incident procedures. Contracts should clearly allocate evidence and remediation responsibilities across equipment suppliers, installers and operators.

The useful analytical insight is that grandfathering protects existing installations from automatic replacement, but not from operational accountability. Operators of older stations will need evidence that inspection and maintenance controls continue to manage shock, fire and electrical-system risks. This may make asset-condition data as important as initial conformity records.

Practical call to action: Complete a site and product gap assessment before 1 July 2027, including classification of existing stations and allocation of compliance evidence between suppliers and operators.

Related Foresight coverage: EU issues battery-passport guidance on data points; China issues EV battery recycling safety rules; Batteries topic page.