Charging at home is where an electric car makes its economic case, and the difference between a good and a mediocre setup is decided before the electrician arrives: which charger, which circuit, and whether your switchboard can take it.
Here is how the charging options compare, what installation typically costs, and the questions that stop you paying for capacity you cannot use or, worse, buying a charger your house cannot support.
Level 1: the humble power point
Every EV ships with a portable charger that plugs into a standard 10 amp outlet and adds roughly 10 to 15 kilometres of range per hour. For a plug-in hybrid, or a driver doing modest daily kilometres with the car home every night, that can genuinely be enough.
If you go this route, have an electrician confirm the circuit is sound and ideally fit a dedicated 15 amp outlet on its own circuit near the parking spot. Sustained overnight draw through a tired outlet on a shared circuit is how melted power points happen. A dedicated outlet install is a small job, commonly a few hundred dollars.
Level 2: the dedicated wall charger
A hardwired wall charger at 7kW on single phase adds roughly 40 to 50 kilometres of range per hour, which refills almost any daily commute in a couple of hours and a near-empty battery overnight. On three phase, chargers up to 22kW exist, though many cars can only accept 7 to 11kW AC, so check the car's onboard charger rating before paying for three-phase hardware.
Installation typically costs $800 to $1,800 on top of the charger unit itself, depending on the cable run from the switchboard to the parking spot, whether wall or ceiling cavities are accessible, and what protection the board needs. A garage wall backing onto the switchboard is the cheap end; a detached carport 30 metres away with underground conduit is the expensive end.
Single phase or three phase?
Most Australian homes have a single-phase supply, which comfortably runs a 7kW charger. Three-phase homes can run faster AC charging and absorb the load more gracefully alongside ducted air conditioning and other big draws.
Upgrading a single-phase home to three phase purely for EV charging is rarely worth it. It involves the distributor, new consumer mains and switchboard work, and the total can run to several thousand dollars, all to save a few hours on an overnight charge that was going to finish before morning anyway. If you already have three phase, use it; if you do not, a 7kW single-phase charger serves almost every household pattern.
Load management: sharing the supply intelligently
A 7kW charger drawing 32 amps is one of the largest single loads in the house. Load management (sometimes sold as dynamic load balancing) monitors total household demand and throttles the charger when the oven, air conditioner and dryer are all running, then ramps it back up overnight.
It matters most on smaller supplies, in homes with big peak loads, and in any two-EV future. Many chargers include it via a current sensor on the mains for a modest extra cost at install time. Retrofitting it later means another visit, so decide up front.
Switchboard prerequisites
The charger needs a dedicated circuit with its own RCD protection and a spare way on the switchboard. Older boards with ceramic fuses, no RCDs or no spare capacity have to be upgraded first, which typically adds $800 to $2,000 to the project.
Get the electrician to assess the board before you buy a charger. It is the single most common surprise cost in home EV installs, and finding out after the charger is sitting in the garage does not improve the price.
Pairing with solar
If you have rooftop solar, charging the car from your own excess generation is the cheapest motoring available. Several chargers offer a solar-tracking mode that adjusts charging rate to match the export that would otherwise go to the grid for a few cents.
The practical requirement is that the car is home during the day, so solar charging suits second cars, work-from-home households and weekend top-ups. If the car is away every weekday, an overnight off-peak or EV-specific tariff usually beats chasing solar, and a cheaper charger without solar tracking does the job.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to install a home EV charger?+
Installation typically runs $800 to $1,800 depending on the cable run and switchboard condition, plus the charger unit itself. A switchboard upgrade, where required, adds $800 to $2,000. Simple garage installs near the board sit at the bottom of the range.
Can I just use a normal power point to charge an EV?+
Yes, at around 10 to 15 kilometres of range per hour, and it suits low-kilometre drivers and plug-in hybrids. Have an electrician check the outlet and circuit first, because sustained overnight charging through worn wiring is a fire risk. A dedicated circuit is the safe version of this option.
Do I need three-phase power for a home EV charger?+
No. A single-phase 7kW charger recharges a typical daily commute in a couple of hours and most batteries overnight. Three phase enables faster AC charging if your car supports it, but upgrading a single-phase home just for charging rarely stacks up.
Does an EV charger need council or distributor approval?+
The electrician handles the paperwork. Hardwired chargers generally must be notified to your electricity distributor, and some distributors have rules about charger size or require load management on constrained networks. It is part of a compliant install, not a task for you.