Battery-Swap vs Plug-In Electric Scooters in Hanoi: What Published Pages Say About Range, Fees and Stations

A battery swap electric scooter in Hanoi is refilled by exchanging a charged pack at a cabinet or station, while a plug-in model is charged from a socket or charging point. This article sets out what VinFast, V-Green, Honda Vietnam, Selex Motors and three news reports state about each approach. The newest page is a VnExpress piece dated 24 October 2026 that carries a “sponsored content” label, and every figure below is the page’s own, with its date where the saved text shows one.

Two ways to refill, model by model

On these figures, one 85 km VinFast Max pack or one 50 km Selex pack limits the distance between swaps, and the UC3’s 120 km sets the distance between charges. The pages give no per-day range figure for any model. The Feliz page does not call the model a swap scooter.

Refill times as the pages state them

For swaps, V-Green’s page says 20 seconds, and a news teaser on the same page says under a minute for a user familiar with the steps. A user described by the sponsored-labelled VnExpress page of 24 October 2026 spends about 1 minute per swap, and Selex’s FAQ says 2 minutes. For charging, Selex’s FAQ says 5-8 hours at home, VnExpress (29 August 2025) says about 4-6 hours depending on the vehicle, and Honda’s page says about 4 hours for 0-100% and about 2 hours for 20-80% on the UC3’s 1,200 W charger. The saved text of the Evo and Feliz pages gives no charging time. The sponsored-labelled VnExpress page (24 October 2026) adds that users can also charge directly at V-Green’s public stations.

Fees and plans

V-Green’s page lists a swap fee of 9,000 VND with VAT, and 20 free swaps per vehicle per month until 30 June 2028, counted from the 26th of one month to the 25th of the next. Payment is by domestic bank card or QR code. For CUV e: buyers who bought without batteries, Honda lists, for two batteries, 350,000 VND a month (10% VAT) for an unlimited-swap package and 250,000 VND for home-charged battery rental, and a 7,020 VND fee, 8% VAT included, per charging point at UC3 hubs expected from July 2026. Selex lists 8,000 VND per swap with VAT and a 400,000 VND deposit per battery, and its FAQ allows up to 3 rented batteries. VnExpress (29 August 2025) gave VinFast’s rent as 200,000 VND for each battery each month, while CafeF (20 May 2026) gives 175,000 VND for one battery and 300,000 VND for two; the pages do not explain the difference.

Who can use a cabinet or station

V-Green’s page lists these conditions for swapping at its cabinets:

• the customer uses a MAX model that supports swapping;
• the person swapping is the vehicle owner;
• the vehicle has a valid battery rental contract at the time;
• the customer has no overdue charging or rental debt;
• the battery’s state of health is above 70%, it is within warranty, it can accept a charge and it is not dented or scratched.

Honda’s page limits its swap stations to buyers of the CUV e: who sign up for the swap-station package; after signing the contract and paying in the MyHonda+ app they receive a chip card. Selex’s FAQ says payment is online in its app. V-Green’s page does not mention renters of vehicles, so it does not say whether a vehicle rented from a shop meets these conditions. CafeF says each maker uses a different battery design and voltage, and an expert quoted by VnExpress says that if batteries differ, only that maker’s users can swap at its stations. VnExpress adds that some products from Son Ha, DK Bike and Dibao use Selex packs.

Where the stations are

These counts mix ports, cabinets and stations, and none is a Hanoi-only figure for VinFast.

Who each model suits, per the pages

VnExpress (29 August 2025) says swap stations are aimed at individuals and fleet-owning businesses that travel a lot, especially ride-hailing and delivery work at 200-300 km a day or more, and at owners who cannot conveniently charge at home or in an apartment. For individuals riding under 60-70 km a day, it says home charging is the more suitable choice. The sponsored-labelled VnExpress page of 24 October 2026 relays VinFast’s statement that swap models let apartment residents collect a charged battery at public cabinets without relying on sockets. Both are the reports’ statements rather than tests. For how a 12-volt battery and a traction battery do different jobs, see A Scooter’s 12-Volt Battery and an Electric Bike’s Traction Battery: Different Jobs. The steps of renting are in How to Rent an Electric Scooter in Hanoi: Step-by-Step Guide, and Find the Exact Manual for Your Rental Scooter: Model Code, Year and Market is the page on tracing a manual by model code, year and market.

What the pages leave out

No page covers short-term scooter rental for visitors. Selex’s price list covers monthly vehicle-and-battery rental in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, including a package built around station swaps, but gives no day or week rates, and no page says whether a scooter rented from a shop can use V-Green cabinets or Honda stations. No page gives a Hanoi map or Hanoi-only count for VinFast cabinets, and the Evo page does not break down its 155,000+ ports and cabinets. The Evo page gives no battery capacity, Honda’s page gives no capacity or range for the CUV e:, and the saved Feliz text gives no charging time. Swap times differ between 20 seconds and 2 minutes without explanation. No page says whether the 9,000 VND fee changes after the free-swap promotion ends on 30 June 2028. Whether one maker’s batteries fit another’s cabinets is described as a problem and a plan, not as a standard that exists today; the one existing case the pages name is Selex packs used by some other brands.

Sources checked

• VinFast Vietnam: Evo product page (undated)
• VinFast Vietnam shop: Feliz 2025 product page (undated)
• V-Green: home page with swap rules and fees (news items to 31 July 2026)
• VnExpress: swap models for apartment residents (24 October 2026, sponsored label)
• Honda Vietnam: CUV e: and UC3 announcement (4 June 2026)
• CafeF: swap-station race (20 May 2026)
• VnExpress: battery-swap stations (29 August 2025)
• Selex Motors: Q2 2025 price list and FAQ

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