Electric vehicles are being introduced as a sustainable innovative solution, aimed at
eliminating the negative environmental effects by having the ability to reduce carbon emissions, air
pollution and fossil fuel dependency. It is therefore important for management, marketers and
government to find innovative ways to promote and increase the adoption rate of these vehicles.
This paper aims to make use of the theory of consumption values to predict the purchase intention
for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) in Gauteng, South Africa. Using structured questionnaire
and convenience sampling, data were collected from 286 respondents. Online data collection was
used due to the Corona virus pandemic restrictions, which limited the researchers’ abilities to explain
items in the questionnaire. A partial least squares structural equation modelling was performed to
test the proposed hypotheses. Results indicate that functional, social, emotional and conditional
values are positively related to customers’ purchase intention of PHEVs, while the epistemic value
is not positively related. This study will provide useful information to electric vehicle manufacturers,
car dealerships, marketing managers and the government in developing strategies aimed at
encouraging the adoption of PHEVs.