Some companies are planning a significant expansion of their electric vehicle fleet in South Africa. According to Engineering News, Vodacom and SmartOps Fleet intend to introduce up to 55,000 vehicles onto ride-sharing platforms over the next nine to twelve months, with 66% of them being electric. This would amount to about 36,000 electric vehicles in an industry that currently has only a few hundred cars.
Uber launched its electric service in Johannesburg in November 2025, starting with 70 vehicles from fleet partner Valternative Energy, with plans to add another 350 by the end of January. By the end of March, the fleet exceeded 120 units, primarily in the Sandton-Rosebank corridor, where demand outpaced supply. In July, Bloomberg News reported that Valternative is in the process of deploying 360 vehicles.
Bolt also introduced an electric category in Cape Town in May and aims to reach 500 electric vehicles by the end of 2026, according to a Bolt statement that indicates approximately 40,000 drivers in South Africa. Even if both companies achieve their goals, their combined total of around 860 electric vehicles would account for only about 2% of Bolt's driver partners.
Since no one publishes industry-wide statistics, and the Department of Transport states it cannot do so, the licensing of individual vehicles for ride-sharing is managed by provincial regulatory bodies. A department representative, Colleen Msibi, told TechCentral that 'centralized national data is currently unavailable to confirm the exact number of registered ride-sharing vehicles or specify how many of them are electric.'
Operating costs are more favorable for electric vehicles. Mohammed Jeeva from Valternative told Bloomberg that a charging cost of about 160 rand covers a range of 400 rand on gasoline. However, as Bloomberg learned, drivers mainly rent the cars, paying about 2,500 rand per week, including insurance and maintenance. A driver from Johannesburg, Thandive Mlindjana, stated that on a good week she earned about 6,200 rand, and after deducting rent and about 1,100 rand for charging, she was left with about 2,600 rand. She noted: 'If we were offered the option to buy electric vehicles instead of renting, it would be ten times better.'