New apartments built in Australia from October 2023 will be constructed with the capability to charge electric vehicles.
Federal Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic chaired his first Building Ministers Meeting on Friday, where amendments were made to the National Construction Code.
The support for electric vehicles in apartment complexes was agreed upon at the meeting. Ministers asked the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) to take this further and speak to relevant agencies about including EV charging infrastructure in apartment buildings.
“National leadership on this issue has been sorely lacking. I’m determined to reverse that situation,” Husic said in a media release.
“We’ll have a special focus on ensuring our buildings are ready to make EV charging safe and easy. We know the demand for electric vehicles is going to continue to increase, especially as households and businesses prioritise use of electricity and renewables,” added Gary Rake, the CEO of the ABCB.
As reported by The Guardian, Husic would like to see this develop further, so that suburbs could potentially become “virtual batteries supporting the grid”.
Some great news from Fridays Building Ministers Forum that all new apartments will be 100% EV ready. The @EVCouncil Head of Energy & Infrastructure Ross De Rango has been leading the development of this work over several years. https://t.co/wZhEB6sguL
— Behyad Jafari ⚡🚘 (@BJafari) August 27, 2022
“There is a capacity for the charging infrastructure to be put in straight away,” Husic told The Guardian.
“My preference would be first to explore [the extension to all standalone homes] to the fullest extent possible.”
It’s unlikely that this will lead to ultra-fast chargers being installed in apartment complexes, however, apartments would likely need to offer a bit more than an appliance wall socket next to the parking spot.
Home charging stations can cost you between $1,000 and $2,500 (or much more) and require special installation, hence why it’s kind of big news. As The Guardian also added with a quote from Ross De Rango, the head of energy and infrastructure at the Electric Vehicle Council, it could cost $30,000 to add sufficient technology to a $30 million apartment, noting that it’s much more challenging to do it after the construction process.
This is terrific news, but Husic is right in wanting this infrastructure rolled out to more homes as soon as possible, even beyond apartments.
I hope that we don’t reach a point with our EV uptake that prospective renters or apartment buyers have to reconsider a home if it lacked the charging capability for their car.
You can read the press release on the Minister for Industry website.
While you’re here, why not check out our list of every new EV in Australia, or every electric vehicle coming to Australia.