As international oil prices surge past $100 a barrel following the escalating conflict in the Middle East, South Africa is bracing for what economists warn will be the highest single-month fuel price increase in the country’s history.
“With early projections from the Central Energy Fund pointing to increases in the region of R4,27 for 93 Unleaded, R4,74 for 95 Unleaded, and R7,83 for diesel in April, the economic argument for Electric Vehicles (EVs) has never been stronger” shares Tristan Klement, Product Specialist and technical strategist at Specno.
Klement recently spearheaded the development of a custom-built, end-to-end digital platform for a major national EV charging network, which is aiming to operate across hundreds of locations in South Africa. The project offered a clear view into a market that is evolving rapidly, and one that is now entering its next phase of maturity: “South Africa’s EV ecosystem has grown quickly, and much of the early technology was designed to establish access and reliability. Now, the opportunity exists to refine that experience for the local user, to wildly improve their experience and amenability to make the switch over to EVs” Klement explains.
Many of the foundational platforms originally used in South Africa to locate charging ports had been adapted from international markets, particularly Europe, where EV adoption is more mature, and the infrastructure landscape is fundamentally different. “In Europe, the challenge is abundance. There are more chargers than a user needs, so platforms are designed to filter and optimise choice,” says Klement. “In South Africa, the context is different. Availability of charging stations is more limited, journeys are more deliberate, and user behaviour is not yet habitual. That requires a different kind of design thinking.”
As the industry grows, so too do user expectations. Early systems prioritised functionality, ensuring that drivers could locate and access charging points reliably. The next step, designed for deployment across South Africa by Klement and Specno specialists, is about removing friction from the experience itself: “This includes simplifying payment journeys, reducing the number of steps to initiate a charge, and ensuring users do not have to navigate multiple systems or pre-funded wallets” he adds.
“None of these systems were built incorrectly. They were built for a different moment in time,” Klement notes. “But as adoption grows, the expectation shifts. When you are asking someone to move away from a deeply ingrained behaviour like refuelling with petrol, the alternative has to feel effortless.”
He argues that EV adoption is not driven by infrastructure alone. It’s shaped by how intuitive, seamless, and accessible the experience feels in everyday use: “Conversion is a product problem,” Klement says. “And in the EV space, that product is not just the car or the charger. It is the entire journey around it.”
To solve this, Klement and his cross-functional team at Specno approached the new platform with a philosophy of radical simplicity. Drawing inspiration from highly intuitive, single-action apps like Shazam and micromobility platforms such as Bolt, they completely rebuilt the user journey. “Our guiding mantra was ‘Find and Pay,’” says Klement. “We stripped away everything unnecessary. The solution we built features a map showing real-time availability of chargers, and a central button that simply says ‘Tap to Start Charging.’ We eliminated the need for RFID cards and manual wallets by integrating Apple Pay and Google Pay. It’s instant, frictionless, and intuitive. This marks a new benchmark for simplicity in South Africa’s EV market.”
The African EV charging market, valued at just $31.93 million in 2022, is projected to expand to $256.53 million by 2030. Meanwhile, the average South African motorist living in a city can already save approximately R14,000 per year by driving an electric vehicle instead of a petrol model.
The long-term vision for South Africa’s EV infrastructure is closely linked to the country’s growing renewable energy sector. With Independent Power Producers (IPPs) investing heavily in wind and solar, particularly in the Northern Cape, which offers some of the strongest solar potential globally, there is a clear pathway to powering EV networks through cleaner energy and reducing reliance on global oil markets and their volatility within the next 5 years.
However, to unlock this future, Klement believes there is an opportunity for South African tech giants to continue raising the bar through digital design simplification. “Across sectors, from government e-services to major corporate banking platforms, we are seeing an increasing focus on functionality and feature depth,” Klement explains. “The next step is refining how those features are delivered, ensuring that the experience remains intuitive and easy to navigate for the end user.”
He emphasises that simplicity should not be misunderstood as basic: “Simplicity is not a lack of sophistication. It is the outcome of deeply understanding a problem and doing the hard work behind the scenes so the user doesn’t have to,” he says. “South Africa has an incredible opportunity to design solutions that are grounded in our local context, while still being globally competitive. If we can prioritise seamless, user-first experiences, we will be well-positioned to support the transition to electric mobility and green energy in a meaningful way.”