Apartment owners facing huge bills to install EV charging infrastructure

Electric cars are getting cheaper, but they are kept out of the hands of everyday Aussies unless they pay a huge bill.

A lack of vital charging infrastructure is keeping electric cars out of the reach of millions of Australians.

Cheaper electric cars with a sub-$40,000 price tag are arriving in increasing numbers but they remain impractical for people living in for the 30 per cent of homes that are apartments and townhouses.

The cars also don’t make sense for renters and those without off-street parking.

New laws require every parking space in new multi-unit residential development projects to be wired and ready to charge electric cars from October 1.

The cost of installing electric car charging infrastructure in older apartments is extremely high. NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

But that doesn’t help the millions of Australians living in apartment blocks built in previous decades, as the cost of upgrading their building’s electrical hardware and installing charging points remains prohibitive.

Ross De Rango, head of energy and infrastructure at the Electric Vehicle Council said the scale of the problem is enormous.

“There are about 1.3 million flats and apartments in Australia. EV charging installations in those homes will often present more complex requirements than we see in freestanding homes and townhouses with driveways and garages,” said De Rango.

“The scale of the challenge is large – for example, if the average cost per dwelling in apartment complexes to do the electrical work to enable installation of EV charging is $1000-$2000, then the total spend needed is in the billions of dollars.”

Installing chargers in an apartment are significantly more complicated than in a free standing home.

The Strata Community Association (SCA), which represents thousands of strata managers and stakeholders who oversee an estimated $1.2 trillion worth of property, said converting older apartments was a massive job.

“Almost all older buildings in Australia and NZ have not been built with the level of electrical infrastructure sufficient to support the additional load that EV charging creates,” said an SCA spokesman.

“The installation of said infrastructure can be extremely cost prohibitive, and a significant barrier to entry for EV consumers that reside in strata.”

Chinese car maker MG, which has just launched Australia’s cheapest electric car priced at $38,990 plus on-road costs, said it was committed to make EV infrastructure affordable for all Australians.

A company spokesman said: “We are having a number of proactive discussions with developers to support the installation of EV charging infrastructure around Australia.”

“We have worked with hotels around Australia to provide significantly discounted Charge Hubs to support regional charging infrastructure.”

The MG4 is currently the cheapest electric car on sale in Australia.

Renters wanting an EV are left with few options as they have no voice on the owners’ corporations that decide to install EV chargers in their building.

“Almost half of apartments are rented, meaning a balance must be struck between consumer demand and owner commitments to EV infrastructure and government and supplier incentives and funding playing a part,” said the SCA.

De Rango said NSW was showing the way for other states in tackling the problem.

“The NSW government has an excellent resource in its ‘EV Ready Buildings’ program that helps strata buildings understand how to plan, install, and manage the infrastructure,” said De Rango.

“NSW is a leader in this space – the EVC encourages the rest of the country to copy their homework.” The NSW government has also opened up a $10m fund to help co-fund EV readiness in a variety of strata buildings.

The boss of European car maker Cupra, Ben Wilks, said installing electric car chargers in apartments was a no brainer.

“We are a country that should charge at home because we have quite strong home ownership and that means there is a big opportunity to use all those sites but for established buildings that will be a challenge,” he said.

He said the decision not to go forward with installing chargers could have an affect on an apartment’s future value.

“There is a chance of diminishing the value of your home if you don’t have this stuff in the future as the market [for EVs] becomes 10 or 20 per cent share, people living in inner city areas will demand that type of infrastructure,” said Wilks.