Abstract for: From Chalkboards to Chargers - Vehicle Electrification in South African Schools

This paper investigates the electricity demand implications of vehicle electrification within South Africa’s education sector, with a specific focus on school-based electric vehicle (EV) charging. It recognises schools as spatially dispersed, schedule-predictable, and increasingly technology-intensive energy users. The study positions schools as a strategic yet underexplored domain for managed electrification. A system dynamics model was developed in iSee Stella to simulate how EV adoption among educators and Grade 12 learners would affect electricity demand. The model tested adoption at 10% and 50% penetration levels across weekday and weekend charging patterns aligned with daytime solar availability. Baseline school electricity consumption was estimated at 3.5 TWh per year and distributed across provinces using school counts and population growth data. The modelling shows that additional EV-related electricity demand remains relatively modest. Under the 10% adoption scenario, added demand is approximately 1.83 GWh per month, rising to 9.15 GWh per month under the 50% scenario. This demand is concentrated mainly in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Western Cape. The findings indicate that schools represent a low-risk environment for early, coordinated EV deployment. Integrating EV charging with on-site solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage could further reduce strain on the grid. Overall, the education sector offers a high-value entry point for managed electrification in South Africa.