Vietnam’s electric market has two body formats, and they are treated differently in law. The pedal-type electric bicycle (xe dap dien) is legally a bicycle; the scooter-style machine (xe may dien) follows power-based rules.
The pedal format
Pedal e-bikes assist only while you pedal and cut out at 25 km/h by law. No licence is required. They are light, cheap to charge, and can be wheeled indoors. The assistance limits them to genuinely short trips — a few kilometres each way. VinFast’s Amio is a newer take on this format: a compact pedal-assisted scooter with an 800 W in-hub motor, a 30 km/h maximum speed, a 1.024 kWh LFP battery and up to 65 km of range per charge under standard conditions, with no licence needed.
The scooter format
Scooter-style electrics keep your feet on a deck, carry bigger batteries and reach 50-90 km/h depending on class. Two-wheel storage, underseat battery compartments and weather protection are better. Charging means parking near a socket or using a battery-swap cabinet. Above 4 kW you need an A1 licence.
Comparing the formats
| Pedal e-bike | Scooter-style electric | |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | never | only above 4 kW |
| Typical speed | 25 km/h cut-off | 50-90 km/h |
| Range | short trips | up to 165 km (two-battery models, standard conditions) |
| Carrying | limited | underseat storage |
| Effort | some pedalling | none |
Which suits you
For a 3-5 km commute in flat districts, a pedal e-bike is simple and licence-free. For longer Hanoi crossings or bridge routes where traffic flows faster, scooter-style machines earn their bigger batteries. Renting is a low-commitment way to test the format: the shop’s E-Bike rents for 200,000 VND per day — contact us to confirm current availability.