The hidden costs of private kerbside charging

Owners of electric vehicles (EVs) are being told they will have to dig deep just to get permission to install a kerbside charger outside their residence.

Those living in the City of Port Phillip – which incorporates Port Melbourne, South Melbourne, St Kilda, and surrounds – may be forced to pay almost $1000 for permits and administration fees for kerbside EV chargers, before even paying for the hardware and installation.

For those who do get through the red tape, they will only be able to use the charger if their vehicle is parked directly next to it – despite having no claims to that parking spot, and the charger can only be used by the holder of the permit.

With the ever-increasing uptake of EVs in Australia, private kerbside charging has been spruiked as a solution for residents who don’t have access to off-street parking.

“For those in our community who don't have off-street parking, finding ways to charge an EV can be a challenge,” the City of Port Phillip states on its website.

“We're addressing this by supporting eligible residents to install private EV chargers. These chargers are private infrastructure installed on public land and utilise electricity from your home.”

Documents obtained by CarExpert show the council’s non-refundable application fee costs $515.80, while $97.98 is to be paid to the Department of Transport for permission to dig up the nature strip.

Permit-holders will then be charged $113.50 annually.

"This is prohibitively expensive for just about anyone," Elwood resident Tom Reynolds told CarExpert.

"I paid around $900 for a 7kW charger, and installation on top of that can be another $800 – or more depending on your house layout. So for some folks, you’re looking at $2000 or more before you’ve even applied to the council. Then they want another $700 for the privilege of running that cable across the footpath," he said.

"That’s the better part of your fuel savings gone before you’ve charged a single kilometre."

The council conditions also state the owner of the charger is required to obtain $20 million of public liability insurance, which is estimated to cost between $750 and $2500 per year, depending on the level of risk determined by the insurance company.

According to the guidelines, there are five steps involved in gaining permission from the council – with an additional step if the property has a heritage overlay, incurring an extra cost of $226.50.

Applications can only be made by owners of standalone buildings, or tenants who receive written permission from their landlord. It’s estimated that approximately half of all those living in the City of Port Phillip are renting.

"The $113 annual permit fee could and should be modified to include the necessary public liability insurance rather than forcing individuals to get their own, because there are lots of renters in our suburb and share houses [that] may not be able to work out who’s entitled to use what," Mr Reynolds explained.

To be approved, the EV charger must be at least one metre away from public infrastructure, which includes street lights, utility boxes, pedestrian crossings, fire hydrants, side-entry stormwater pits, driveways, and power poles, among others.

If given the green light, installing a kerbside charger is estimated to cost between $2000 and $7000.

"Honestly, I think a lot of people won’t bother. They will just buy a cable cover from Bunnings and run it across their footpath, then wait and see what the council does about it."

For those not wanting to fork out, the City of Port Phillip is currently seeking community feedback on 32 proposed locations for public kerbside chargers, installed on power poles throughout the area, providing up to 64 EV charging points for locals.

City of Port Phillip Mayor Alex Makin did not respond when asked to comment on this story.

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