EV charger installation: what's involved and what it costs

Only a licensed electrician can install one. It's not a DIY job

You can't wire in your own EV charger in Australia. DIY electrical work is illegal here. So a licensed electrician has to do the install and connect it.1electricvehiclecouncil.com.auView source That settles the two questions people ask most: "who can install an ev charger" and "do you need an electrician to install an ev charger". The answer to both is the same. A licensed electrician, every time.

What about a charging "specialist"? You usually don't need one. To most electricians a home charger is standard work, and a licensed sparky can fit one in a couple of hours. It still has to be someone licensed. But it doesn't have to be a niche installer, so it's worth getting a few quotes and comparing them. The real false economy is using an unlicensed person. A job done below standard can hit your home insurance and the charger's warranty, and it's just the kind of thing a later inspection picks up.

What to check when you pick an EV charger installer

Start with the licence. Check it's a current electrical licence, then check the price covers the whole job: the circuit, the board work, and the safety switch, not just bolting the unit to the wall.1electricvehiclecouncil.com.auView source

Your home's power type changes the install too. Our single-phase vs three-phase guide covers that side of the decision in full. And if you're still choosing the charger itself, see which charger you actually need.

The job is a dedicated circuit from your switchboard to the wall

Here's what the electrician actually does. Your charger gets its own dedicated circuit. That's a single line from the switchboard straight to the charger, with its own circuit breaker and safety switch, or RCD.1electricvehiclecouncil.com.auView source It doesn't share with your lights or power points. So it's more than a quick wall mount. The electrician runs new cable and finds space on the board for the new circuit.

Then the charger is fixed to the wall and wired in. Where it goes matters. The further the charger is from the switchboard, the more cable has to run. Mount it next to the board and it's a short, simple job. Put it on the far side of the house, or out at a detached garage, and that cable run gets long.

So the scope barely changes from home to home. New circuit, new cable, board space, the unit mounted and tested. Two things do change: the cable distance, and the state of your switchboard. That second one is where most of the price swing comes from.

An old or full switchboard is the surprise that pushes the price up

The most common bill shock is the switchboard. It has to be upgraded before the charger can be connected in three cases: when it's full, with no spare slots; when it's old, with ceramic fuses and no safety switches; or when the main supply is too small to carry the extra load.3electricvehiclecouncil.com.auView source A licensed electrician confirms which of those applies. It's the first thing they look at.

That matters because the upgrade is often a separate, big cost on top of the charger install. It's the bit people forget to budget for. We don't put a fixed price on a board upgrade here. It depends on your board and your supply, so get a licensed electrician to quote it as part of the job.

Which brings us to the question everyone asks: "why is ev charger installation so expensive?" The honest "it depends" comes down to four things. How far the charger sits from the switchboard. The age and state of the board. Whether the board has spare capacity. And whether your supply can carry the extra load. The estimator above gives you the usual install price, and the full EV charger installation cost guide breaks the numbers down further.

Apartments and strata are a harder job, and the building's supply needs checking first

In an apartment, the install is a bigger question than the charger. Before any charger goes in, the building's electrical connection needs an energy assessment to confirm it can carry the extra load.4electricvehiclecouncil.com.auView source Shared chargers in common areas typically use load management to avoid overloading the building's supply: the system schedules charging to stay within what the connection can deliver.

Getting strata approval is a separate process. Owners will need to raise the installation with their owners corporation or body corporate, and a licensed electrician confirms what the building's supply can carry. The upshot for apartment owners is simple: start with the building, not the charger. Ask your strata committee whether a feasibility study or load-management plan already exists, then get a licensed electrician to look at the supply before you buy anything.

The bottom line: confirm your switchboard, then get it priced

The charger you pick is the small decision. The real job is the install: a dedicated circuit run from your switchboard by a licensed electrician. Your switchboard decides whether that's a quick afternoon or a bigger spend.1electricvehiclecouncil.com.auView source So do one thing first. Before you buy a charger, get a licensed electrician to look at your board. That single check tells you whether you're up for a clean install or a board upgrade first.3electricvehiclecouncil.com.auView source

Use the estimator above to see the usual install price and check the cost for your own home, then get quotes from vetted local electricians. For the wider picture, see our guide to home EV charging in Australia. General information here is not a substitute for advice from a licensed electrician, who confirms what your home actually needs.