Five things decide how simple a home charger will be: your switchboard, your supply, the cable run, the car itself and, for apartments, the strata.
Run through them before you order anything and you'll know what you're dealing with before an electrician even opens the meter box.
EV charger installation requirements Australia-wide: the short list
Most EV charger installation requirements Australia-wide boil down to the same five checks, though the approvals side varies by state. The details below are written for NSW homes.
1. Switchboard capacity
A dedicated charging circuit needs headroom on your board. A 7kW single-phase charger draws around 32 amps, going by the AEVA's charging notes, and that load can run for hours at a time.
Things you can spot yourself without touching anything live:
The main switch rating. It's printed on the main switch. The higher it is, the more room you usually have.
Spare positions. A board with no empty slots may need rearranging or extending.
Ceramic fuses. If you see old rewireable fuses instead of circuit breakers, the board will almost certainly need upgrading before any new circuit goes in.
Short on capacity? A load-managing charger can throttle back when the oven and air con are running, which sometimes avoids a board upgrade. Home EV charger requirements start here because the board decides most of what follows. Our switchboard upgrade guide explains what an upgrade involves.
2. Single-phase or three-phase supply
Your supply type sets the ceiling on charging speed. Most homes are single-phase, which tops out around 7.4kW. Three-phase supply allows 11kW (16 amps per phase), but as the AEVA points out, homes don't normally have it connected.
A three-phase home usually has a three-pole main switch on the board. If you're unsure, a photo of the board is enough for us to tell.
For one car and normal suburban driving, single-phase charging overnight is usually plenty. Upgrading the supply means extra work with the network as well as on site, so it rarely makes sense for charging speed alone. Our single-phase vs three-phase guide goes deeper.
3. The cable route
The further the charger sits from the board, the heavier the cable needs to be to limit voltage drop, and the more labour goes into running it. The easy jobs are a garage close to the board, or a run through an accessible roof space or subfloor. Harder ones involve finished walls, long distances or trenching across a yard. Stand in your parking spot and trace the likely path back to the meter box.
Where the charger goes on the wall matters too. Mount it where the cable reaches the car's charge port without stretching across the driveway, away from where bins and bikes get bumped against it. If it's outdoors, check the unit's weather rating for that spot.
4. What your car can take
Like all new EVs sold in Australia, your car will have a Type 2 socket for AC charging. The thing to check is its on-board charger, because the car caps the rate, not the wall unit. A car limited to 7kW won't charge faster on an 11kW three-phase charger.
A few common examples:
Model
Max AC charge rate
Source
BYD Atto 3
7kW single-phase
MG4 51kWh
6.6kW
Hyundai Ioniq 5
7.4kW single-phase, 11kW three-phase
Tesla Model Y RWD
11kW
Specs change between model years, so check your owner's manual for your exact variant.
5. Strata rules and approvals
Apartments and townhouses on a strata scheme need owners corporation approval for work on common property. NSW has made that easier. Under the 2025 strata reforms, EV chargers count as sustainability infrastructure, and from 1 July 2025 an owners corporation can't block them on appearance alone unless the property is heritage listed or in a heritage conservation area.
Of all the EV charger prerequisites Sydney apartment owners face, the strata step usually takes longest, because the motion goes to a general meeting. Start with your building's by-laws, then get a licensed electrician to assess the car park supply. Our apartment EV charging guide walks through the process.
In a free-standing home, the main paperwork is the electrician's Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work, which they have to give you once the job is done.
A 60-second self-check
Answer yes or no:
Does your board use circuit breakers, with some spare room?
Is single-phase 7kW enough for your driving, or do you already have three-phase?
Is your parking spot close to the board with a clear cable path?
Do you know your car's maximum AC charge rate?
If you're in strata, has the owners corporation approved chargers before?
All yeses usually means a straightforward job. A no or two isn't a deal-breaker, just something to plan around with your electrician. For the full process from quote to switch-on, see our EV charger install guide.
Next step
Arconex has fitted hundreds of EV chargers across Greater Sydney and we're accredited installers for myenergi, Ocular, ABB and Smappee. When you're ready, book an EV charger installation and send a photo of your switchboard so we can start with the right advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I need for a home EV charger?
At minimum:
A switchboard with capacity for a dedicated circuit
A charger matched to your supply and your car
A practical cable route to your parking spot
Strata approval if you're in an apartment or townhouse
A licensed electrician, who must give you a compliance certificate
Do I need three-phase power?
No. Single-phase charging at around 7kW suits most households with one EV.
How many amps does a 7kW charger draw?
About 32 amps on a single-phase supply.
Can I just use a normal power point?
You can charge from a standard 10 amp outlet with the cable that comes with many EVs, but it's slow. A dedicated wall charger is far quicker and built for the sustained load.
Can I put a charger in a rental?
Only with the landlord's permission, and the work still has to be done by a licensed electrician. Get the agreement in writing before anything is booked.
What if my switchboard still has ceramic fuses?
Plan for a switchboard upgrade first. Old fuse boards aren't designed for a long continuous load like EV charging.
