Sustainable Mobility Market Analysis and Opportunity Report

The report argues that South Africa can transition its mobility sector to zero-emission vehicles by leveraging the Atlantis Special Economic Zone (ASEZ) to attract EV assembly and component manufacturing. It highlights a strategic opportunity in public transport, noting a potential market of 350,000 minibus taxis and 65,000 buses. The document identifies high import taxes (at least 42% for EVs) as a barrier to uptake that local manufacturing at the ASEZ could overcome. It recommends targeting global OEMs like Tesla and BYD, as well as local startups like MellowVans and Green Riders, while emphasizing the need to localize the production of lithium-ion battery cells and semi-conductors to secure the value chain.

• High import taxes create a significant barrier to electric vehicle (EV) adoption in South Africa; while ICE vehicles face an 18% tax, EVs are taxed at 25% plus a Luxury Goods Tax of up to 17%, resulting in an overall rate of at least 42%.
• There is a strategic opportunity to establish EV manufacturing for public transport at the ASEZ, targeting a potential market of 65,000 buses and 350,000 minibus taxis, particularly as these vehicles require 80% locally manufactured components.
• South Africa's ICE vehicle export market is threatened by upcoming bans on ICE sales in the UK (2025) and the European Union (2030), which serves as a driver for attracting EV manufacturing investment to the ASEZ.
• The Western Cape has an emerging micro-mobility ecosystem with companies like Green Riders (electric bicycles), Go-Electric (mopeds), and MellowVans (electric 3-wheelers), the latter of which achieves almost 70% local component usage.
• South Africa lacks the capacity to produce lithium-ion battery cells despite having the world's largest supply of manganese, a key battery mineral; the report suggests leveraging this resource to move up the value chain, similar to Indonesia's strategy with nickel.
• The report identifies several critical component manufacturing gaps at the ASEZ, specifically in semi-conductors, where the African continent has no manufacturing capability, and in the production of EV 'skateboard' platforms.
• The ASEZ offers specific financial incentives for OEMs and component manufacturers, including non-taxable cash grants of 20% for OEMs and 25% for component manufacturers on qualifying investments in productive assets.
• The report compares 'Gigafactories' (large-scale, vertically integrated) with 'Micro-factories' (modular, robotics-focused), noting that Micro-factories can be built in 6 months for approximately USD 40 million, compared to USD 1 billion for a traditional Gigafactory.

APA

GreenCape (n.d.). Sustainable Mobility Market Analysis and Opportunity Report. https://greencape.co.za/assets/Sustainable-Mobility-Market-Analysis-and-Opportunity-Report.pdf

Chicago

GreenCape. Sustainable Mobility Market Analysis and Opportunity Report. n.d. https://greencape.co.za/assets/Sustainable-Mobility-Market-Analysis-and-Opportunity-Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=GreenCape |title=Sustainable Mobility Market Analysis and Opportunity Report |url=https://greencape.co.za/assets/Sustainable-Mobility-Market-Analysis-and-Opportunity-Report.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greencapendsustainable, author = {{GreenCape}}, title = {{Sustainable Mobility Market Analysis and Opportunity Report}}, institution = {GreenCape}, url = {https://greencape.co.za/assets/Sustainable-Mobility-Market-Analysis-and-Opportunity-Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }