Australia’s EV charging future depends on more than installing more chargers. It requires the right infrastructure in the right locations, simpler experiences for drivers and closer coordination between councils, charging operators and electricity networks.
At Flow Power’s recent Power Charge event in Sydney, industry leaders explored what that looks like in practice – from navigating planning approvals and grid connections to understanding when drivers charge and how electricity pricing can influence their choices.
Jacob Mahoney, Flow Power’s Chief Commercial Officer, brought together three perspectives from the industry: Ken Welsh, Coordinator of Strategic Transport Planning at Sydney’s Inner West Council; Andrew Forster, CEO of kerbside charging provider EVX; and Liam Brady, General Manager of Flow Power Highway.
Their discussion highlighted the challenges of delivering charging infrastructure and the opportunity to make it a valuable part of Australia’s renewable energy transition.
Building charging infrastructure where people need it
For EV owners with a driveway, charging is straightforward. Park at home, plug in and charge while the vehicle isn’t in use. But for people without off-street parking or living in an apartment block, access to public charging is essential.
For Sydney’s Inner West Council, that need is shaping the approach to infrastructure.
“With the Inner West, 65% of households can’t charge on site. So that’s why we’ve got our focus on public charging,” Ken Welsh explained.
At the time of the event, Ken reported that the council had installed 173 kerbside public chargers, with approximately 30 more planned over the following six months – but installing chargers is only part of the challenge.
With kerbside parking occupancy between 80 and 85%, according to Ken, finding suitable locations means balancing charging access with competing demands for parking.
EV drivers want charging bays they can reliably access, while other residents are concerned about losing parking spaces. Plus, if charging spaces aren’t dedicated to EVs, vehicles that aren’t charging can prevent drivers from using them.
The key takeaway for councils: the task is as much about community engagement and decision-making as it is about technology. Charging infrastructure needs to reflect how people use a location, while taking account of the community around it.
An ecosystem, not a single charging solution
The panel agreed that no single type of charger can meet every driver’s needs.
Someone parking near home overnight has different requirements from a family travelling between cities or a driver stopping briefly at a shopping centre. Charging speed, location and the time a vehicle remains parked all need to work together.
Ken described Inner West Council’s approach as an ecosystem, with slower kerbside charging in residential streets, medium-speed options in council car parks, and faster charging in suitable commercial and transport locations.
Liam Brady explored the ultra-rapid charging perspective through his experience with the Flow Power Highway. The discussion included plans for the first Flow Power Highway site and the role of ultra-rapid infrastructure in supporting longer journeys and drivers who need a shorter charging stop. Rather than replacing residential or destination charging, these sites form another part of the network.
For businesses and property owners considering charging infrastructure, the starting point isn’t simply which charger to install, but who will use it, how long they will stay and what charging experience suits the location.
Let strategy lead funding decisions
Andrew Forster, CEO of EVX, said government funding can help charging projects progress, but he cautioned against allowing the requirements of individual funding programs to determine the strategy.
He described a complicated landscape of government-supported programs that could be difficult for councils to navigate, advising establishing what makes sense for the community first, then identifying the funding that supports it.
That means understanding local charging needs, choosing an appropriate mix of infrastructure and setting priorities before pursuing a particular grant. Funding is a means of delivering the strategy, not a substitute for one.
The same principle is relevant to businesses assessing charging opportunities. Start with the needs of the site and its users, then consider the options available to support delivery.
Addressing the barriers to delivery
Even with a clear strategy, delivering charging infrastructure can involve lengthy planning and approval processes.
Ken described the number of stakeholders involved in Inner West Council’s projects, with 14 parts of council participating in its project control group. Some proposed sites had needed to move several times to secure community agreement. He also reported that three projects had been awaiting state approval for more than two years.
These experiences show why coordination and clearer approval pathways matter. A suitable location and a sound charging concept don’t automatically translate into a project that can be delivered quickly.
Getting the right people in the room
For the Flow Power Highway, identifying suitable sites and assessing grid connections are important parts of developing ultra-rapid charging infrastructure. Liam highlighted differences in connection processes across electricity networks, describing how a lack of consistency makes planning more difficult.
Assessing a site takes time and resources. Understanding its connection requirements early can help charging operators and landowners make better-informed decisions about whether to progress it.
While Liam acknowledged genuine technical and engineering challenges, he also emphasised the importance of communication.
“A lot of that can be solved through ensuring the right people are in the room, sharing the right information.”
For councils, commercial property owners and businesses, the message was to engage early. Bringing charging operators, electricity networks and site stakeholders together can help identify constraints before substantial work is committed.
Looking beyond where charging happens
The discussion also challenged assumptions about when EV charging adds demand to the electricity system. Andrew shared an observation from EVX’s kerbside charging network:
“Our peak hour across the whole network is 11am.”
It was a useful counterpoint to the familiar picture of drivers arriving home and charging during the evening peak. In EVX’s experience, charging demand was highest during the day.
Andrew connected this pattern with the opportunity to use electricity when solar generation is available. His example highlighted why charging behaviour deserves attention alongside infrastructure planning and opened a discussion about pricing.
Andrew explained that incentives could encourage drivers to charge at times that were commercially favourable for EVX, thanks to its wholesale linked contract with Flow Power, creating scope to offer discounts while improving its margin.
The broader opportunity is to consider when charging happens, not just where. Where drivers have flexibility, pricing and charging schedules can help align demand with electricity market conditions.
That flexibility will vary by driver, location and operating requirements, but it gives businesses and charging operators another factor to consider when designing a charging service and its energy strategy.
Making charging simpler for drivers
As charging infrastructure becomes more sophisticated, Andrew added that the customer experience should become simpler.
Drivers need to know where they can charge, how long it will take and what it will cost. They shouldn’t need detailed knowledge of charging technology to make those decisions.
“We need to stop using all the industry terminology,” he said.
Clear pricing, visible locations and intuitive access are central to that experience. The industry’s technical distinctions may matter when designing infrastructure, but the service needs to make sense to the person using it.
For businesses offering charging on their properties, usability belongs alongside site selection and electricity supply as a core consideration, not an afterthought.
Building Australia’s charging future, together
Across the discussion, it became clear that building Australia’s EV charging future is a much bigger endeavour than just installing the hardware.
It means matching infrastructure to the way people use it, coordinating earlier to address planning and connection challenges, and making charging more straightforward for drivers.
Councils, businesses, charging operators and electricity networks each bring a different part of the picture. Connecting those perspectives is essential to building a network that serves a range of locations and charging needs.
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