The impact of facilitating conditions on electric vehicle adoption intentions in sub-Saharan Africa: An integrated UTAUT model

Abstract

This research investigates the factors influencing the adoption intentions of electric vehicles (EVs) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), focusing on leading countries in EV adoption such as South Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Nigeria. An enhanced version of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology was developed to assess the key determinants of EV adoption. A total of 865 responses were collected and analyzed using structural equation modeling. This paper contributes to the field by showing that facilitating conditions (FC) have a greater impact on EV adoption in SSA compared to other factors typically influencing the adoption of other technologies. The findings further demonstrate that FC can significantly accelerate the widespread adoption of EVs in developing regions. Except for effort expectancy, the results also show that trust, performance expectancy, social influence, and network externalities all positively affect EV adoption. Among these, FC have the strongest effect, increasing influence by 32%. These insights offer valuable guidance for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and researchers to promote EV adoption and support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 3.9 and 7.2.