Ownership of electric vehicles (EVs) is becoming more popular in Merri-bek. EVs are becoming cheaper to buy and they are one way our community can contribute to lowering emissions.

We have heard from residents that a barrier to EV ownership in some parts of Merri-bek is not having a place to park, off the street, to charge the vehicle at home.

Trialling boom-mounted EV charging

We have launched a trial to permit 20 residents to install equipment on their property that will allow them to run a charging cable overhead to their EV parked on the street.

The equipment is a vertical pole installed in their front garden. There is a retractable horizontal boom 2.5 metres above ground. If they park their EV in the appropriate bay, the resident can deploy the boom over the footpath. The charging cable runs from their property, up the pole, across the boom and drops down to plug into the EV. This keeps the footpath accessible and free from trip hazards.

Council has partnered with local business Vehicles Charging Solutions Australia (VCSA), who is the approved supplier for this trial. VCSA is the only firm we are aware of who supply this equipment. We expect other suppliers will emerge and be added to our list of approved suppliers if the trial is successful.

Who can participate in the trial?

Those interested in participating should click 'join the trial' below. A selection process will be carried out, and approvals will be given for 20 installations. Council will monitor the trial through on-site visits, surveys of participants, and general feedback on Conversations Merri-bek. If the trial is considered to be a success, we will examine how we might expand the scheme.

Trial participants can live anywhere in Merri-bek, but there are some restrictions. They must not have off-street parking and the property owner must apply. The first stage of the trial is restricted to properties that do not fall inside a Heritage Overlay. Property owners whose properties fall inside a Heritage Overlay are invited to submit an expression of interest for future stages of the trial.

Join the conversation

Why we’re doing it

Council has a community carbon target of 75% reduction by 2030 (based on a 2011-12 baseline). Over 20% of our carbon emissions are due to motor vehicles. Electric Vehicles have lower lifetime emissions than fossil fuel vehicles.

EVs are a key way to meet our carbon target, along with active and public transport. Our community is interested in EVs, but a known barrier for some is lack of off-street parking. Council has installed 22 public EV chargers, but it is more convenient to charge close to home. Charging at home is also cheaper, particularly if you have a solar system.

How we got here

Merri-bek has been a leader on zero-emissions vehicles for over 10 years. Our achievements include:

• We installed Victoria’s first fast charger in 2013
• We trialled hydrogen vehicles
• We have installed 22 public electric vehicle chargers, and a further 12 at Council sites
• We run a fleet of 30 EVs and 7 ebikes.

We will continue to install public chargers, which are extremely popular and perform around 100 charging sessions a day across our portfolio. We also hope to trial public EV chargers mounted on power poles in financial year 2025/2026.

We also regularly gets requests from residents without off-street parking who are hoping to charge their EV at home.

This is a widespread issue and different solutions have been trialled by other councils like City of Port Phillip and Inner West Council in Sydney. These trials have not been entirely successful for different reasons like cost, accessibility and time requirements.

We are interested to find out if this boom-mounted approach will work for Merri-bek, and can perhaps set an example for other councils.