Common EV charger questions, answered

A standard 7kW single-phase home EV charger installed at a typical Mildura home runs from around $1,500 to $2,500 all-in (charger + install + certification), depending on the brand of charger you choose and the length of the cable run from your switchboard to the install point. Three-phase 22kW installs and jobs that need a switchboard upgrade cost more. We give you a fixed quote after a site visit so there are no surprises.

About 90% of Australian homes are single phase, and most current EVs accept a maximum of 7-11kW onboard charging anyway, which a single phase 7kW charger handles fine. Three phase 22kW is worth it only if (a) your home is already on three phase and (b) your EV accepts 11kW or 22kW onboard. If you're not sure what your EV accepts, we'll check the spec for you before we quote — no point paying for capacity you can't use.

Most home EV chargers we install in Mildura take 3-4 hours on site, from arrival to walk-through. If a switchboard upgrade is needed it adds another half day. From the time you call us to the day the charger's on the wall is usually 1-2 weeks.

Yes — Tesla Wall Connector Gen 3 is one of the most common installs we do across the Sunraysia. We're not yet a Tesla Certified Installer (in progress), but we install Wall Connectors fully to spec, issue a certificate of compliance, and support warranty claims if anything fails.

Maybe. We check this as part of the quote. Homes built after roughly 2000 usually don't need anything more than a new RCD/MCB for the EV charger circuit. Older homes — especially those with ceramic fuses or no main switch — typically need a switchboard upgrade first. We do this in-house so you get one quote, one crew, one finished job.

Going from single to three phase is a network-level change — we coordinate with Powercor (or Essential Energy in NSW) on your behalf. Typical cost is $3,000-$8,000 depending on distance from the supply on the street and your switchboard condition. Worth it only if you genuinely need 22kW charging.

Only if your EV's onboard charger accepts it. Many EVs cap at 7kW or 11kW on AC charging regardless of how much the wall unit can deliver — for those, a 22kW charger gives no speed benefit. Newer Teslas, Polestar 2/3, Audi e-tron, Mercedes EQ and a handful of other EVs accept 22kW. Check your owner's manual or send us the model and we'll tell you.

Most often this is an RCD type mismatch (EVs need Type B or Type A+EV — Type AC isn't compliant), a water-ingress problem with the charger, or a faulty contactor inside the charger. We do callouts for these, identify the fault, and quote the fix. Don't keep resetting the RCD — it's there for a reason.

Yes — with a solar-aware EV charger like Zappi, Fronius Wattpilot or myenergi, the charger reads your solar export in real time and adjusts its draw to match. End result: most of your EV's charge can come from sun rather than grid. We install all the major solar-aware brands across the Sunraysia.

Solar-aware chargers handle this automatically. As your export rises and falls (sun in and out, household load changes), the charger ramps up and down with it. Some chargers have an 'ECO+' or similar mode that allows a small grid top-up so you never charge below a minimum rate; others stay strictly on solar-only.

Depends on your goals. If you've got cheap off-peak tariffs, it's often better to charge from grid overnight at cheap rates and leave the battery for home use. If you're on a flat or peak tariff, charging EV from battery overnight makes more sense. We'll talk through your tariff with you.

Commercial installs vary a lot. A single workplace AC charger for staff might be $2,000-$4,000 installed. A multi-bay load-managed setup for a body corporate or workplace can run $20,000-$100,000+ depending on charger count, supply work and software. DC fast chargers are typically $50,000+. We give you a full project quote after a site visit.

If you're installing more than one or two chargers on the same site, load management is what stops you from tripping the supply when multiple EVs charge at once. Software dynamically shares the available power across active chargers — so eight 22kW chargers on a 100A site supply share the power intelligently rather than overloading.

OCPP (Open Charge Point Protocol) is the industry-standard communication protocol for EV chargers. OCPP-compliant chargers can be managed centrally, you can switch software providers without replacing hardware, you can run billing/access control, and you can integrate with fleet management tools. For any commercial install we strongly recommend OCPP-compliant hardware — no vendor lock-in.

Yes. Most strata-titled buildings require by-law approval before an EV charger goes in a common-property car space. Victoria's 2025 guidelines have streamlined the by-law process for individual lot installs. We can supply the technical documentation your owners' corporation needs to approve the install.

Victoria adopted the NCC 2022 energy efficiency provisions on 1 May 2024. All new apartment buildings must include EV-ready infrastructure: space for switchboards, conduits, and the wiring path for future EV chargers. The chargers don't need to be installed at handover, but the bones do. We work with developers and builders on the design and install side.

A 50kW DC fast charger installed at a typical commercial site is usually $50,000-$120,000+ all-in (hardware + civil + grid connection + commissioning), depending heavily on the grid upgrade required. Larger 150kW+ chargers cost considerably more. Most public DC sites today are co-funded with a state government grant or a fuel company partner.

From feasibility to commissioning, typically 4-9 months. Grid connection paperwork with the network provider is usually the long pole — Powercor and Essential Energy both have queues for new high-load connections. We start that paperwork early.

Depends on charger count and whether the depot supply needs upgrading. A 4-6 charger depot using existing supply is usually a 2-4 week project. Larger or supply-constrained sites take 2-4 months including planning and any network connection work.

Standard callout for diagnosis in Mildura is around $180-$250. Repairs vary — RCD replacement is a few hundred dollars; charger contactor replacement can run $500-$1,500 in parts plus labour; sometimes the cheapest fix is a replacement unit. We quote before doing any repair work.

Yes — for chargers we installed and for chargers we didn't. Most major brands (Tesla, Zappi, Wallbox, Fronius, Ocular, ABB) have local Australian distributors with warranty processes. We document the fault, lodge the claim, install the replacement or repair, and you don't deal with the brand directly.

Yes — every install we do is issued with a certificate of electrical compliance (Energy Safe Victoria for VIC, NSW Fair Trading for NSW). This is a legal requirement for any new electrical work and you'll need it for any future home sale or insurance claim.

Yes. We hold electrical contractor licences in both Victoria and NSW. That means we can install in Gol Gol, Buronga, Wentworth, Dareton and across the cross-border Sunraysia without you needing a second contractor.

Our standard service area covers Mildura, Irymple, Red Cliffs, Merbein, Wentworth, Dareton, Buronga and Gol Gol — no callout fee. We'll also travel for the right job to Nangiloc, Carwarp, Colignan, Cullulleraine, Cardross, Werrimull, Sunny Cliffs, Yelta, Cabarita, Robinvale, Wood Wood, Miralie, Kerang, Murrabit, Mystic Park, Koondrook, Woorinen South, Nyah and Swan Hill.

Not technically — longer cable runs are common on larger Sunraysia properties. Cable cost goes up with length (it's thicker copper, the further it runs) and we'll need to confirm the run path. Most installs handle this for a few hundred dollars extra in materials. We confirm the route on the site visit.

Tesla Wall Connector is cleaner and fully integrates with the Tesla app — best for Tesla-only households. Universal chargers like Zappi or Wallbox work with any EV (Tesla included), and Zappi specifically does solar-aware charging which Tesla's Wall Connector doesn't. Multi-EV households or households with solar usually go universal.