Electric vehicle kerbside charging grants FAQs

Grant funding for round 2 will be available to charge point operators (CPOs). CPOs are companies that own and/or operate electric vehicle (EV) chargers. To be eligible, CPOs must be:

• an ‘entity incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)’; or
• a state-owned corporation or subsidiary of an Australian state or territory owned corporation

Any other entities are ineligible to apply.

No, applications where any portion of the project costs are being covered by other grant funding (including other NSW Government grants) are not eligible. 

CPOs that have started a round 2 grant application form may request access to a map of approved round 1 sites by emailing a completed site request form to [email protected]. The program team will assess the request and check whether the requester has an active round 2 grant application in the GMS. If the request is successful, a secure link containing locations of approved sites will be shared with the person who requested it. 

CPOs applying for round 2 grant funding can propose chargers at the same address as a site funded in round 1. These chargers must service a new car parking space and must consist of entirely new hardware. Upgrades or replacements to chargers installed in round 1 (e.g. changing from single to dual port chargers) are not permitted. However, new chargers may be connected to an existing switchboard. 

If you are proposing to install chargers on a DNSP asset, please contact the DNSP as soon as possible to discuss your plans for leasing out space on a DNSP asset. If your organisation does not already have a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and Facilities Access Agreement (FAA) then you will need to work with your DNSP to establish them. 

All local government areas (LGAs) in NSW have been analysed by population density, dwelling type, housing tenure and vehicle ownership. Round 2 funding will focus on installing kerbside chargers in 224 priority zones that were assessed as having the least access to off-street parking.  

Priority zones are distributed across three tiers. The table below shows the funding cap per charge port for each priority zone tier.

A list of priority zones can be found in Appendix 2 of the EV kerbside charging grants round 2 guidelines and on the EV kerbside charging grants map.  

Priority zones may be received and modified for subsequent funding rounds to ensure program objectives are achieved.

Only chargers installed at sites within a priority zone will be eligible for co-funding in round 2. 

Applicants can apply for co-funding for sites across multiple priority zones provided all sites meet the eligibility criteria in the guidelines. There is no limit to the number of sites in an application, provided the total funding requested does not exceed $800,000 ex GST. 

Each applicant must request a minimum NSW Government co-contribution of $100,000 (ex GST). There is no requirement for a minimum number of sites, in the application or in each priority zone tier, provided co-funding requests for individual sites do not exceed 80% of the total installation and equipment costs per charge port. 

Kerbside chargers can be installed:

• on the kerbside nature strip, also known as the road verge, adjacent to an area where a vehicle may lawfully be parked
• on council owned and managed land e.g. community facilities, sports fields
• council owned carparks that are available to the public 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, except where the EV charger services a dedicated car share parking space (e.g. GoGet, Popcar).

Council letters of support are required at the application stage to ensure councils are engaged and aware of the proposed sites. We recommend CPOs engage with councils early in the application window to understand councils’ requirements, decision making processes and timeframes.

Council letters of support must have the same site addresses as in the application and must confirm that proposed sites:

• do not conflict with any existing or planned bike lanes
• will not be impacted by scheduled site re-development in the next 5 years
• are not located on roads with greater than 50km/h speed limit
• are available to the public 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, except where the EV charger services a dedicated car share parking space (e.g. GoGet, Popcar).

A recommended council letter of support template is provided here.

For any EV chargers that interact with electricity supply authority assets (e.g. electricity pole, lighting pole, or substation kiosk) applicants must also provide a letter of support from the relevant electricity supply authority.

Yes, councils can provide letters of support to multiple CPOs, including for the same sites.

Applicants need a letter of support from the council that the site street address falls under. Please refer to the EV kerbside charging grants map and search for the specific site address. Click the area near the pin and the pop-up box will indicate which LGA this site is in.

A grant recipient may nominate an alternate site if a charger cannot be installed on an approved site through a change request process. Co-funding for any new site will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and is entirely at the discretion of the NSW Government.  Applicants that propose alternate sites will not be able to request more than the total co-funding amounts initially requested in their grant application. 

Where installation cannot proceed following funding approval, an applicant may also request to withdraw a site by emailing [email protected]. 

The NSW Government is not mandating EV charging only parking spaces. EV charging only parking restrictions should match the expected dwell times at the site. The updated NSW Government regulatory signage allows for time restricted EV only parking. Any changes to existing parking conditions are subject to council traffic committee approval and should be negotiated between CPOs and the council.

The Road Transport Legislation Amendment Regulation 2022 provides guidance on the regulation of EV charging only parking restrictions.

Co-funding can only be used for costs related to the installation of kerbside charging infrastructure and cannot be used for ongoing, operational, or maintenance costs. Please refer to the eligible expenditure section of the guidelines for further details. 

Yes, bay painting, line marking, and signage costs are eligible for co-funding. Please refer to the eligible expenditure section of the guidelines for a full summary of what is acceptable.

Yes, one-off council application fees for changing of parking spaces are eligible. However, ongoing leasing fees are not. Please refer to the eligible expenditure section of the guidelines for a full summary of eligible expenses.

No, any lease costs are considered operational and are not eligible for co-funding.  Please refer to the eligible expenditure section of the guidelines for a full summary of eligible expenses.

No. Chargers must be operational within 12 months of the signing of a funding agreement with the NSW Government. 

It is recommended all questions are completed as thoroughly as possible to ensure your application has the best chance of being selected for co-funding. Each application will be reviewed by an assessment panel with the final decision based on a competitive analysis of applications and the applicant’s ability to address the merit criteria. 

Should there be additional funding rounds, unsuccessful applicants may be eligible to apply for the same or different sites in future funding rounds, provided these sites meet program objectives and eligibility requirements. 

If you wish to be made aware of any future funding rounds, subscribe to our newsletter on the EV kerbside charging grants website. 

NSW Government engaged an external probity advisory firm, O’Connor Marsden & Associates Pty Ltd, in accordance with the NSW Government’s Grants Administration Guide, to ensure the application and assessment process is fair to all applicants and there is no bias in the selection of applicants. 

Please email [email protected] with any questions or queries about the grants assessment process. 

It is the NSW Government’s policy to not disclose merit criteria weightings. Applicants are encouraged to address all criteria, as best they can, no matter the weighting. Please review to the guidelines for more information about the merit criteria.

No, the proximity to existing chargers will not impact the assessment process. Applications will be assessed against the merit criteria in the guidelines.

The EV kerbside charging grants map provides locations of existing public chargers. 

Yes, multiple CPOs may be awarded funding for chargers in the same zone or LGA. Each CPO must include a letter of support from each council they are proposing to install chargers in.

No. Where two or more applicants propose chargers at the same site, the applicant with the highest merit criteria score will be awarded funding for that site. Merit criteria used to assess applicants is provided in the grant guidelines.

Payments to successful applicants will be made in accordance with the 5 milestones outlined in the guidelines. 

The 99% uptime requirement is a measure of reliability and relates to the requirement that chargers shall be operational, 99% of the time over a one-year period. Each co-funded charger does not need to have a 99% uptime as long as an average of 99% uptime is achieved across all the applicant’s co-funded chargers.

Successful grant recipients will be required to report on uptime every 6 months. The NSW Government may also conduct random spot checks on funded installations. 

The Charge@Large app is a national visualisation and data reporting tool under development by the Electric Vehicle Council. The intent of the tool is to: 

• show users the live availability status of public EV charging equipment
• provide uptime and utilisation reporting to the NSW Government

Successful applicants will be required to publish site details for all co-funded chargers on the Charge@Large app by way of an Open Charge Point Interface (OCPI) connection. 

No, only socketed AC EV chargers included on the NSW Government approved EV charging hardware list are eligible for co-funding under this program. 

The EV kerbside grant guidelines define a ‘dual port’ charger as “an EV charger with 2 charge ports capable of charging 2 vehicles simultaneously.”

If a DC charger is only capable of charging one vehicle at a time (even if it is described as having ‘dual charging ports’), it would be considered as a single port charger and eligible for funding up to:

• $10,000 (ex GST) in a green zone
• $8,000 (ex GST) in a yellow zone
• $6,000 (ex GST) in a blue zone

Yes, applicants can propose hardware or software that is not listed on the NSW Government approved list provided it meets all of the EV charger technical requirements in the guidelines.

Yes, chargers may be installed with load management capabilities to ensure efficient power use and maximise usage of chargers.

Whilst TfNSW EV parking bay pavement marking is not a prescribed traffic control device for local and private road operators, the NSW Government encourages its adoption. TfNSW signage can be found here.  

Charge Point Operators (CPOs) installing chargers and making changes to parking bays, should contact the council area where the chargers are to be located for further information.  

No, RFID card payments are not considered contactless. Contactless payment options must support credit and debit card payments without requiring the user to download any additional software or create any additional accounts prior to payment. 

The list of priority zones may be reviewed and modified for subsequent funding rounds to ensure program objectives continue to be met.

Interested parties looking to install chargers in non-eligible regional councils may choose to apply for funding through the NSW’s electric vehicle destination charging grants. We encourage you to subscribe to the Net Zero Transport newsletter to be notified when this grant becomes available.

Councils interested in supporting CPOs in round 2 of the kerbside grants program can contact the Electric Vehicle Council at [email protected] for a list of CPOs who operate EV kerbside chargers. 

Any submission issues for the online grants management platform (SmartyGrants) can contact the SmartyGrants help desk at [email protected]. The help desk team are available during business hours. 

EV technical advice or grant relevant questions can be submitted by email to our team. The Net Zero Transport team aim to respond to enquiries within 3 business days. 

Sign up to our EV mailing list to be one of the first to know about future information sessions and program updates relating to the Electric vehicles kerbside charging grants. 

Following the information session, additional questions can be emailed to our team. 

We have legal obligations under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) in relation to the collection, storage, access, use and disclosure of personal information. 

If collecting your personal information, we will provide you with a privacy statement at the time of collection detailing how this information will be managed in accordance with privacy laws. 

Information of a confidential nature provided as part of, or in connection with any application, will be treated as commercial-in-confidence information and only disclosed with the consent of the applicant. 

The NSW Government may disclose commercial-in-confidence information provided by applicants to the following parties:

• the minister or minister’s office 
• the NSW Ombudsman and Audit Office of NSW 
• NSW Government staff or advisers for the purpose of assessment and funding recommendations 
• where authorised or required by law to be disclosed.