Electric vehicle uptake in SEQ has accelerated significantly over the last two years. If you’ve recently bought an EV — or you’re planning to — a home EV charger is one of the best investments you can make alongside the car itself.
Here’s the practical guide from an electrician who installs them regularly across Brisbane and SEQ.
Why a Dedicated Home Charger?
Every EV comes with a portable charger that plugs into a standard 10A power point. In an emergency, it works. As a daily charging solution, it’s painfully slow — typically 8–12km of range per hour of charging.
A dedicated home wall charger (also called an EVSE — Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) operates at 7kW on a single-phase connection, delivering roughly 40–50km of range per hour. For most households, that means a full charge overnight from a near-empty battery.
If you have or plan to add solar, a dedicated charger also lets you set charge schedules to coincide with peak solar generation — charging your car free from the sun.
Types of Home EV Chargers
Level 2 AC charger (7kW single-phase) The standard for most Australian homes. Requires a dedicated circuit from your switchboard. Delivers a full charge for most EVs in 6–10 hours. This is what we install for the majority of residential customers.
Level 2 AC charger (22kW three-phase) Faster, but only useful if your car can accept three-phase AC charging (most Australian EVs currently accept single-phase only). Requires a three-phase supply and a suitable switchboard. Ask your car manufacturer whether your model supports three-phase AC charging before specifying this.
DC fast charger Not appropriate for residential use — these are the commercial rapid chargers you see at service stations and shopping centres. We install these for commercial and fleet applications.
What the Installation Involves
A home EV charger installation is a licensed electrical job. It is not a DIY project. Here’s what’s involved:
- Site assessment — we check your switchboard capacity, cable runs, and whether your metering supports time-of-use tariffs
- Switchboard work — dedicated circuit breaker, cabling from switchboard to garage or carport
- Charger mounting — wall-mounted unit, typically in garage or carport
- Commissioning — testing, pairing with your vehicle’s app if applicable
- Energex notification — in Queensland, EV charger installations above certain loads must be notified to the network operator
The whole job typically takes 2–4 hours for a straightforward installation.
How Much Does EV Charger Installation Cost?
A standard 7kW single-phase EV charger installed in Brisbane typically costs $1,200–$2,200 depending on:
- Distance of cable run from switchboard to charger location
- Switchboard condition and available capacity
- Whether conduit is required (e.g. through a brick wall or underground)
- Charger brand and model
If your switchboard needs upgrading to support the charger, add $800–1,500.
Pairing EV Charging with Solar
This is where home EV charging gets genuinely compelling. If you have solar panels, you can schedule your EV to charge during peak generation hours — typically 10am to 3pm — using your own solar power rather than grid electricity.
At current grid rates of 30–35c/kWh, charging a typical EV from empty costs $12–20 per full charge from the grid. From solar, it costs you almost nothing.
Some chargers include solar integration features — monitoring your solar generation and adjusting the charge rate to match excess solar output. We can advise on which models support this during the quoting process.
What to Ask Your Installer
Before you commit to an EV charger installation, make sure you ask:
- Are you a licensed electrician? Only a licensed electrician can legally install an EV charger in Queensland.
- Will you notify Energex? Required in Queensland for installations above the notification threshold.
- What charger brands do you supply? Make sure they’re supplying a quality branded unit with Australian compliance mark, not a no-name import.
- Does the quote include all cabling and switchboard work? Some quotes are charger-only and exclude the electrical work.
Future-Proofing Your Installation
If you don’t have an EV yet but you’re planning to get one, now is a good time to run conduit and a dedicated circuit to your garage as part of another electrical job. It’s significantly cheaper to add the circuit while other electrical work is happening than to come back later.
High Energy installs EV chargers across Brisbane and South East Queensland. We’re licensed electricians — not just charger resellers. Get in touch for a quote.