Victoria’s 100,000 EVs outpace state’s charging network

Electric vehicle (EV) sales in Victoria continue to soar, but a parliamentary inquiry has found public charging infrastructure is not expanding fast enough to meet growing demand and that the state lacks an effective statewide EV charging strategy and implementation plan.

Victoria’s public charging capacity per registered EV remains well below the international benchmark identified by the parliamentary inquiry.

The number of electric vehicles in Victoria has exceeded 100,000 and is growing rapidly.

In March this year, battery electric vehicles accounted for 15.4 per cent of new light-vehicle sales in Victoria, an increase of 86 per cent compared with the same period last year. However, the parliamentary inquiry found Victoria’s public charging infrastructure needed to expand to support growing EV uptake.

The Victorian Parliament’s Legislative Council Economy and Infrastructure Committee found Victoria had 0.37 kilowatts of public charging capacity per registered EV, compared with an international benchmark of one kilowatt per EV.

As of September 2026, Victoria currently had 208 fast chargers.

Although Victoria has one of the highest numbers of public fast chargers in Australia, its charging network has not kept pace with growing EV uptake.

As of December 2024, Australia had approximately one public charging plug for every 45 EVs.

International Energy Agency data shows Australia has substantially more EVs per public charging point than major markets including China and the European Union.

The Victorian Government released its EV Charging Regulatory Statement in April 2026, outlining four priority objectives for public charging: accessibility, affordability, reliability and safety.

The statement said the government would work to remove regulatory barriers to EV charging and improve electricity network tariffs for charging providers.

Dr Gavin Zhou, who has contributed to research related to electric vehicles, said governments should take greater responsibility for providing public EV charging infrastructure.

"That part of the responsibilities [constructing charging pools] are not fully guaranteed by different brands," he said. 

"It's supposed to go back to the public or the government domain. And that means the government needs to build more charging stations as infrastructure. It's more like public transport or gas stations."

The Victorian Government’s Destination Charging Across Victoria Program has funded the planned installation of 133 EV fast-charging stations across the state.

On April 28, 2026, the Victorian Government allocated an additional $688,500 to deliver 22 new charging stations.

When asked what Victoria could learn from other countries’ approaches to EVs, Zhou pointed to the speed of policy implementation in China.

"China's policy simply goes faster," he said. 

"The barrier in Victoria is supposed to go back to the decision-making process and the time."

At the federal level, the Australian Government announced $40 million in September 2025 to expand public EV charging at kerbside locations and in regional charging black spots.

New data from the Australian Automotive Dealer Association shows battery electric vehicle sales increased 92 per cent year-on-year in March 2026. The association described the increase as ‘a clear shift in consumer preferences’, driven partly by rising fuel prices.

Zhou pointed to the growth of Chinese carmaker BYD as evidence of increasing consumer demand for electric vehicles.

"It's not like we're talking about a future trend. It's here," he said.