Round 3 Of WA’s EV Charge Up Grants Under Way

More than $7 million in grants is up for grabs in Western Australia to support the installation of EV charging infrastructure across the state at workplaces, tourist destinations, and along key travel routes.

Available to not-for-profits, small/medium businesses and local governments, the “Charge Up” grants cover up to half of the costs of purchasing and installation.

“These grants are a great way to help organisations support the energy transition,” said WA Energy, Environment and Climate Action Minister Reece Whitby on Friday. “By funding charging infrastructure and easing range anxiety for EV drivers, we are helping reduce carbon emissions and putting WA closer to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.”

The grants support installation of up to four AC or DC EV chargers at each site. Devices can range in capacity from 7kW up to 350kW, with up to five sites per applicant.

Funding caps vary depending on site location and charger output. In the Greater Perth area, the cap is $5,000 (ex. GST) per site (up to 150kW devices) and $10,000 per site (over 150kW). Outside Greater Perth, it’s $10,000 (up to 150kW) and $20,000 (over 150kW) per site.

The program encourages EV charging during the day and overnight; avoiding the evening peak period of 5pm to 9pm.

“This not only makes great use of the abundant solar energy flowing through the electricity grid during the day, but also reduces the impact on the wider electricity grid during peak use times, especially as more people make the switch to EVs,” states the WA Government.

Charger usage will be tracked – one of the requirements is an EV charging software subscription from an approved vendor. Half of the cost of a 2-year subscription can be covered by the grant. As well as monitoring that charging is mostly occurring during the 9am-5pm window, this will also play a role in data capture to gauge impact of the grants and provide benefits for operators such as controlling use and billing features.

While applicants can request quotes from whomever they wish – assuming the installer has relevant qualifications, or a turnkey service from an Approved Software Supplier  – hardware must also be on the program’s approved equipment list.

Applications for Round 3 close on 30 June 2025 (or when available funding is fully committed) and further details can be found here.

Previous Charge Up Rounds Results

Rounds 1 and 2 saw more than $4.5 million of grant funding approved for the installation 611 EV chargers in 341 locations. 75 per cent of successful grant applications were for projects in the Greater Perth area.

81 per cent of chargers funded in the previous rounds are/will be available for visitor and public use, 78 per cent for employee use and 53 per cent for fleet purposes. 18 per cent of the Round 2 approvals were for DC fast chargers. It may be a while before some of these projects are up and running, as installation of DC chargers must proceed within 18 months of a grant being awarded.

Finding Public EV Chargers In WA

To misquote Douglas Adams, Western Australia is big. At around 2.65 million square kilometres, WA is the second-largest subnational region in the world by land area.

While the tyranny of distance can trigger range anxiety, new public charging stations are popping up regularly; as is the case elsewhere in Australia. Probably the best way to get a handle on what is available and where is with the free Plugshare app. It’s what powers SolarQuotes’ public EV charger map page.

Public stations are incredibly important, but they can have their hassles – queues in some places, “ICEing“, “idling” or rocking up to find a station is out of action. If you find your plug-in “granny” charger isn’t cutting it at home, consider the viability of installing a hard-wired device. It will be a lot faster, more convenient and can save you serious money; particularly if you have solar panels on your home’s rooftop. Learn everything you need to know about home EV chargers.