Upgrade your apartment building with the infrastructure it needs

Electric vehicle (EV) purchases in NSW made up 8% of new car sales in the first half of 2023. The race to make buildings EV ready is on.

It is estimated that 80-90% of EV owners will charge their vehicle at home – whether that is at a single dwelling or in an apartment building. In NSW, 15% of the population live in apartments and there are nearly 84,000 strata schemes. NSW Government is now providing co-funding to retrofit existing apartment buildings to make them EV ready.

There’s $10 million available to assist eligible NSW apartment buildings by co-funding the assessment and installation of EV infrastructure upgrades. This funding is available through the EV ready buildings grant.

An investment in EV charging will:

provide residents with the infrastructure they need and expect.

increase interest in rental properties.

improve equitable access to EV technology.

This grant will support you to: 

• Identify your building's current and future EV charging needs
• Retrofit EV charging infrastructure including switchboards, distribution boards and cabling. 
• Enable residents to easily install their own EV charger.

Grant application guide

This grant is now available and will close once funds are exhausted.

1. Start by understanding what's on offer

The grant will be separated into 2 stages of co-funding.

Stage 1 – feasibility assessment

The grant will subsidise the cost of a feasibility assessment. The cost to the applicant will be $2,000 ex-GST. The NSW Government will cover the remainder of the fee. If you already have a recent feasibility assessment, the NSW Government will review this for suitability at no charge.

Stage 2 – infrastructure upgrades

The grant will co-fund 80% (up to $80,000 per building) of eligible infrastructure costs. It will also cover 50% (up to $1,200 per building) of eligible software subscription costs for 2 years. 

2. Check your eligibility.

To be eligible you must meet the following criteria: 

Stage 1:

Located in NSW.

• Registered strata scheme under the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015.
• Classified as a class 2 building under the National Building Code with 10 or more apartments.
• The building must have private and/or common property visitor (or shared) off-street common property parking as part of the strata scheme.
• No more than 4 EV chargers already installed for buildings with less than 40 apartments, or no more than 10% of the number of parking spaces for buildings over 40 apartments.
• Must be able to implement EV charging infrastructure upgrades that can be accessed by all residents. 

Stage 2

• Completed stage 1 of the program.
• 2 x commercial quotes for the electrical infrastructure works.
• Confirmation that EV charging infrastructure will be appropriately operated and maintained.
• Confirmation that charging infrastructure will be accessible to all residents and tenants looking to install EV chargers.
• Evidence of owner's corporation approval for the installation of EV charging infrastructure.
• Evidence of sufficient funds to complete the works (i.e., sufficient capacity in the Capital Works Fund).
• Insurances: public liability, professional indemnity, workers compensation. 

3. Read the guidelines.

Additional eligibility requirements and merit criteria for each site may apply. You can find the complete grant and eligibility criteria in the funding guidelines. To help you prepare an application make sure you read:

EV ready buildings grants funding guidelines