On 29 September 2026, Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Circular 61/2026/TT-BCT and with it QCVN 32:2026/BCT, the National Technical Regulation on Electric Vehicle Charging Posts and Charging Stations. It takes effect on 1 July 2027.
Until now, charging in Vietnam was covered by product standards and by general electrical, building and fire law. A joint ministry meeting in September 2024 recorded eight national charging standards, three socket standards and no national technical regulation for the charging station as a system. QCVN 32 closes that gap. It treats the station as one technical system, not only the charger. The charger, the site layout, the power supply, the protection, the monitoring software, the metering and the operating records all carry a requirement, a check method and a pass criterion.
Two tests decide scope, not one
The regulation applies the product rules and the station rules separately. A charging post that is manufactured, imported, sold or installed must meet the product requirements unless its device type is excluded by name. The station rules apply to public areas, central parking areas and rest stops.
The two tests can give different answers. Stations inside buildings and stations for internal, non-commercial use are excluded as stations, but the posts installed there are not excluded as products. A wallbox in a private garage is not a station under QCVN 32, and it still needs certification.
The route to market is fixed
For charging posts the sequence is test, certify, declare, mark, then sell. Certification comes from a designated body that meets ISO/IEC 17065, testing from a designated or recognised laboratory. Foreign test and certification results count only through the recognition rules of Circular 16/2026 of the Ministry of Science and Technology. ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation or an international certificate does not replace Vietnamese recognition.
The standard edition can decide the test report
QCVN 32 names IEC 61851-23 in its 2014 edition, through TCVN 13078-23:2020. IEC withdrew that edition on 13 December 2023, and most DC chargers on the market are now tested to the 2023 edition. A report to the newer edition counts only with a documented clause-by-clause comparison to the named one (clause 4.3.3).
In our view, that comparison is cheaper than re-testing, and it sets the certification plan. Importers should map their existing reports to the named editions before they plan new tests.
Load management becomes evidence
Take an illustrative design: six DC posts of 120 kW each, plus 20 kW for cooling, lighting and controls, need 740 kW at full power. On a 500 kW grid connection, QCVN 32 requires automatic load management that watches the limit and reaches a safe state if the controller fails (clause 3.5.5).
The acceptance tests check the station with the controller lost, not only in normal operation. A backend dashboard does not count as evidence. Load banks or real vehicles, and the time to book them, are easy to underestimate.
Two-wheelers and swap cabinets sit at the edge
The regulation is written around the vehicle. Electric motorcycles enter only through the phrase "similar road vehicles", and there are no special bay or layout rules for them. A battery swap cabinet charges batteries that have been taken out of the vehicle, so it does not meet the definition of a charging post. A site with only swap cabinets is not a QCVN 32 station, but a mixed site turns the cabinets into loads of the station.
This reads together with QCVN 31:2026/BXD for two-wheeler batteries, and with Circular 31/2026/TT-BXD for charging and swap areas in apartment buildings from 15 December 2026.
Operating stations are not exempt
Charging posts legally installed before 1 July 2027 may stay in use. Stations in scope that already operate must review their compliance with the safety requirements within six months, and complete corrections within 24 months, until 1 July 2029. Direct hazards are handled at once.
What we would do now
- Classify every product and every site separately, and write the decision down.
- Map existing test reports to the named standard editions.
- Design load management to fail safe, and write the acceptance plan at design stage.
- Inventory operating sites and rank them by risk, so corrections spread across 2028 and 2029.
QCVN 32 adds no new station permit. What it adds is evidence: each requirement has to be shown at acceptance and kept for the life of the site.
If you are planning a charger certification, a station design or the review of an operating network in Vietnam, write to info@emobino.com.
