The NSW Government has opened grants that co-fund up to 80 per cent of the cost of preparing strata apartment buildings for electric vehicle charging, capped at $80,000 per building.
The NSW Government has launched a $10 million EV Ready Buildings grants program to help apartment buildings install the infrastructure needed for electric vehicle charging. The government expects the funding to help retrofit more than 100 buildings across metropolitan and regional NSW.
Strata buildings with at least 10 apartments can apply. The program co-funds up to 80 per cent of the upgrade cost, up to a maximum of $80,000 per building, and supports buying and installing up to four shared chargers in visitor parking spaces.
Applications run in two stages. The first covers a preliminary assessment of the building to work out the best way to make it EV-ready, and successful applicants are then invited to apply for the second stage, which co-funds the actual infrastructure work. The government described NSW as the first state to co-fund EV upgrades in apartment buildings, and said the program sits alongside $260 million in the 2023–24 budget for wider EV infrastructure.
Energy Minister Penny Sharpe said more than 90 per cent of EV drivers charge at home, and that the government did not want apartment residents to miss out.
For people renting or buying a car space in a strata building, access to charging is becoming a practical point to check, since spaces with charging available are likely to suit a growing number of drivers.
Photo: RegionalQueenslander / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. A 'no parking except while charging' sign at an electric vehicle charging bay in Rockhampton, Queensland.