EV charger installation across south-east Melbourne
The car arrives in a fortnight and the lead in the boot takes most of a day to fill the battery from a normal power point. A wall charger fixes that overnight, provided the switchboard can carry it and the cable can get to where the car parks.
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- Registered Electrical Contractor REC 20101
- 25 years trading
Most people ring us in the fortnight before the car arrives
That is fine, but earlier is better. If the board needs work first, that changes the timeline.
- You have an electric car or a plug-in hybrid on order and no charger at home yet.
- You are charging from a normal power point and it is not keeping up with your driving.
- The power point or the portable lead feels warm after a long charge. Stop and ring someone.
- The switchboard is full, so there is no spare way for a dedicated charging circuit.
- You have solar and want the car charging on what the roof is generating during the day.
- The car parks a long way from the board, across a driveway or at the back of a block.
- You are in an apartment or on strata title and need to know what is actually possible.
- You run a business and staff or fleet vehicles need charging on site.
What the install actually covers
The charger on the wall is the easy part. Most of the work happens between the switchboard and the parking space.
- Site check first: switchboard capacity, consumer mains size, spare ways and the cable route.
- A dedicated final subcircuit from the board to the charger, sized for continuous load and the run length.
- RCD protection of the type the charger and AS/NZS 3000 require for that installation.
- Cable run agreed with you before it goes in, concealed or in conduit where practical.
- Charger mounted, commissioned and tested with your car actually plugged in.
- App, network and scheduling set up, including off-peak charging windows if you want them.
- Load management configured where the supply cannot carry the charger at full output.
- Circuit labelled, installation tested and a Certificate of Electrical Safety issued.
About EV charger installation
The charger is the easy part
Most of the cost in an EV charger installation is not the unit on the wall. It is the cable run from the switchboard to where the car parks, and whether the board has the capacity to feed it.
A garage sharing a wall with the switchboard is a half day job. A carport at the back of a long block, with a driveway to cross, is a very different piece of work. That is why we look before quoting rather than offering a single price that would be wrong for most people.
How fast you actually need to charge
A 7kW single phase charger adds roughly 40 kilometres of range per hour. Plugged in overnight that is a full battery from almost any starting point, which is why most households never need anything faster at home.
Three phase at 11kW or 22kW only makes sense if your car can accept that rate, and many cannot. Paying for a three phase supply to feed a car that charges at 7kW regardless is a common and expensive mistake.
Why it needs its own circuit
A kettle draws hard for two minutes. A car charger draws close to its rated current for eight hours at a stretch, most nights of the week. That sustained load is why the wiring rules treat EV charging separately and why the charger gets a dedicated circuit rather than sharing with the garage lights.
It is also why the portable lead that came with the car is a short term answer at best. It draws around 10 amps continuously from a socket never designed for it. If that outlet or the lead is warm after a charge, stop using it.
Load management and the distributor
Where the supply cannot comfortably carry the charger at full output, load management is usually cheaper than upgrading the mains. The charger throttles when the house is drawing heavily and returns to full rate later, which on an overnight charge you never notice.
Depending on the charger rating and your existing supply, your electricity distributor may need to be notified and may set conditions. We establish that at the quote stage and handle the paperwork.
We quote the job in front of us
No rate card, because the honest number depends on things nobody can see from a website. Estimates are free.
03 9889 3341Not urgent? Send the details and we will come back to you within one business day.
Standards this work is held to
A kettle draws hard for two minutes. A car charger draws close to its rated current for eight hours at a time, most nights. That difference is why AS/NZS 3000 deals with electric vehicle charging separately, and why the installation gets its own circuit rather than sharing one with the garage lights.
In practice that means a dedicated final subcircuit sized for continuous load and for the length of the run, protection matched to what the charger specifies, and an installation that follows the manufacturer’s instructions rather than the shortest path.
Depending on the charger rating and your existing supply, your electricity distributor may need to be notified, and may set conditions such as load management. We sort that at the quote stage. We are a Registered Electrical Contractor, REC 20101, and the work carries a Certificate of Electrical Safety.
How long it takes
- Quote
- Same day in most cases across south-east Melbourne, once we have seen the board and the parking space.
- On site
- Half a day for a straightforward single-phase install where the board has capacity and the run is short.
- Longer runs
- A full day or more if the cable crosses a driveway, goes underground or needs a trench.
- Board work first
- If the switchboard needs upgrading, add a day for that and book it before the car lands.
Rated 5.0 across 216 Google reviews
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Symon is a very professional electrician . He came to the house to have a look at where the main electric box is and he said is not gonna be easy job as the electric box is far away from…
Carmen Ng, Google review
EV charger installation questions we get asked
Do I need three-phase power for an EV charger?
No. Most homes install a single-phase charger at up to 7kW, which is plenty for overnight charging. Three phase only becomes relevant if you want 11kW or 22kW, and it is only worth the cost if your car can actually accept that rate. Many cannot.
How much range does a home charger add per hour?
A 7kW single-phase charger adds roughly 40 kilometres of range per hour for a typical electric car. Plugged in overnight that is a full battery from almost any starting point, which is why most people never need anything faster at home.
Can I just use the power point that came with the car?
The portable lead works, but it draws around 10 amps continuously for hours at a time from a socket that was never designed for that. If the power point or the extension lead warms up, stop using it and ring an electrician. A dedicated circuit exists precisely because this load is constant.
Will my switchboard need upgrading first?
Sometimes. A charger needs its own circuit with the right protective device, so the board needs a spare way and the supply needs the headroom. If the board is a ceramic fuse box, it goes first. We check this before quoting rather than discovering it on the day. See switchboard upgrades.
Which chargers do you install?
We install the unit you have chosen, or recommend one that suits your supply and your car. We are not tied to one brand, so the advice is about what fits the installation rather than what we have in the van.
Can you install a charger at an apartment or on strata property?
Often yes, but it takes longer. The metering, the cable route through common property and owners corporation approval all have to line up first. Ring and describe the building and we will tell you what is involved before you commit to anything.
Does my electricity distributor need to know?
Depending on the charger rating and your existing supply, the distributor may need to be notified or may set conditions such as load management. We work that out at the quote stage and handle the paperwork.
What does EV charger installation cost?
The charger is the predictable part. The cost lives in the cable run from the switchboard to where the car parks, and in whether the board has capacity. A short run to a garage beside the board is a very different job to a run under a driveway. We quote after looking at both, and the estimate is free. Ring 03 9889 3341.
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03 9889 3341Not urgent? Send the details and we will come back to you within one business day.