The shift to electric vehicles (EVs) in developing countries comes with its own set of obstacles, particularly because while environmental considerations are a strong motivator, they are often not enough; factors such as infrastructure availability, economic constraints, and daily priorities can be significant barriers to EV adoption. The current study examines the mediating role of sustainable development in the relationship between environmental awareness and the intention to adopt EVs in Pakistan, based on the value–belief–norm (VBN) theory. Current and potential EV owners in major urban centers were surveyed face-to-face, and data were collected using a validated five-point Likert-scale questionnaire from December 2025 to March 2026. Convenience and snowball sampling methods were used because of the limited nature of EV ownership. Structural equation modeling was performed using SmartPLS. The results indicate that environmental awareness has a significant and positive effect on EV adoption intention and sustainable development. Sustainable development, in turn, is a strong predictor of EV adoption intention. The results of the mediation analysis indicate that sustainable development has a significant indirect effect, suggesting that it is a partial mediator between environmental awareness and EV adoption. The results show that consumers who consider the economic, social, and environmental co-benefits of EVs in their everyday lives are more likely to adopt them than those who only feel the appeal of the ecological benefits. In this study, the VBN theory was adapted to a developing-country context, and the concept of sustainable development was operationalized as a responsibility-attribution belief. Policy implications include positioning EV promotion as a means to achieve Sustainable Development Goals and overcome the awareness–behavior gap in resource-poor, pollution-heavy countries.