Abstract
•Despite the 2023 Electric Vehicle White Paper, South Africa faces major obstacles in transitioning to electric mobility. Key challenges include high vehicle costs, unreliable energy supply, insufficient charging infrastructure, and fiscal and trade constraints that limit widespread adoption.•The study identifies five crucial factors to accelerate EV uptake: stabilising energy supply, implementing targeted fiscal incentives, expanding charging infrastructure, ensuring coordinated action across government, and establishing clear, supportive regulatory frameworks. These enablers collectively address both supply- and demand-side constraints, creating a conducive environment for growth in the EV sector.•Tackling these enablers is essential to promote domestic EV manufacturing, enhance affordability, and support a just and effective green transition. By focusing on these priorities, policymakers and industry stakeholders can implement practical strategies that strengthen South Africa’s path toward sustainable mobility, ensuring environmental, economic, and social benefits are realised.
This study examines the key challenges impeding South Africa’s transition to electric mobility and highlights potential enablers to support domestic electric vehicle production and sales. Guided by the technology-organisation-environment framework, the research used a mixed-methods approach, combining a literature review, content analysis of key documents, sectoral data analysis, and in-depth interviews with ten stakeholders across South African society. Findings indicate that, despite the 2023 release of the Electric Vehicle White Paper as a foundational policy framework, South Africa continues to lag in electric vehicle adoption. Major barriers include high purchase costs, an unreliable energy supply, insufficient charging infrastructure, and fiscal and trade-related constraints. Conversely, five enablers emerged as critical to accelerating adoption: (1) energy supply stabilisation, (2) targeted fiscal incentives, (3) charging infrastructure development, (4) cross-government coordination, and (5) clear, supportive policy frameworks. Collectively, these enablers are essential to advancing local electric vehicle manufacturing, enhancing affordability, and supporting a just and effective green transition. The study provides actionable insights for policymakers and industry stakeholders to strengthen South Africa’s path toward sustainable mobility.