Naamsa is rolling out a nationwide electric vehicle network but South Africa's road to electric vehicle adoption is still filled with red lights.

Electric car sales topped 17 million worldwide in 2024, rising by more than 25% according to the International Energy Agency, but South Africa remains a slow starter in terms of this global trend.

The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) thinks it's time to stop stalling.

It's now laying the groundwork for a national network of EV charging stations, starting with 120 publicly accessible EV chargers along major transport routes.

Forecourts on the frontline

By geography and legacy alone, forecourts are perfectly positioned to capitalise on an EV transition, said Shivani Singh, chief projects officer at Naamsa. They've got the traffic, the location, the permits and the land.

Yet South Africa has fewer than 400 publicly accessible EV charging stations. Compare that to the 4,800 licensed petrol stations across the country, and the gap between what's happening and what's possible makes itself clear.

So, what's holding them back?

"There's a lot of things that face our retailers at the moment," said Timothy Oliver, fuel specialist at Connect Group South Africa. Among the...