The adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) has emerged as a critical strategy for achieving a socio-technical transition toward sustainable transportation. In light of this, many countries are actively working to identify challenges associated with this transition and to develop and implement effective policies to address them. This research presents a theoretical framework that outlines the factors influencing the socio-technical transition within the electric vehicle sector, drawing from existing literature and employing a multi-level perspective approach (MLP). Through this framework and insights from expert focus groups and thematic analysis, the researchers identified several challenges facing the socio-technical transition of electric vehicles in Iran. These challenges were categorized into three main areas: supply/production challenges, demand/application challenges, and overarching challenges. Further analysis using the multi-level perspective approach allowed for these challenges to be organized into landscape, socio-technical regime, and niche levels. Tailored policy solutions were proposed for each category of challenge. At the landscape level, economic and environmental/security challenges were highlighted, leading to recommendations such as aligning fossil fuel prices and expanding renewable energy power plants. At the socio-technical regime level, issues related to infrastructure, business environment, culture, economy, legal matters, and regulation were identified. Suggested policy tools included enhancing maintenance infrastructure, increasing the number of charging stations, improving the supply chain for EV components, offering tax incentives to manufacturers, raising public awareness about the benefits of electric vehicles, reducing EV prices, and enacting relevant legislation. Lastly, technological challenges were recognized at the niche level, with proposed solutions including incentive programs to foster technology development and developing green technology batteries.