More Chargers Coming: Knox Powering Up For EV Growth

In Melbourne’s City of Knox, electric vehicles play an important role in the community’s ambitious net zero emissions aspirations. Knox City Council is putting the pedal to the metal on the issue of hosting more public EV charging infrastructure.

The City of Knox is a local government area in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne established in 1963 after separation from the Shire of Ferntree Gully. At that point the LGA had a population of 24,000 people. Fast forward to today and its population has grown to more than 160,500.

Something else rapidly growing is EV adoption. According to VicRoads data, there are just under 2,000 registered electric vehicles in the local government area – a big jump from 2023 when there around 400.

Knox has more than 25 public EV charging stations and while most are privately owned and operated, Council has five chargers at three locations; at the Civic Centre, Fairpark Reserve and Knox Regional Netball Centre. Currently, these are free to use (but more on that in a bit).

With road transport accounting for 13% of emissions in Knox, Council is keen to encourage further EV uptake to achieve its goal of net zero emissions across the community by 2040. More electric vehicles means more public EV chargers are needed sooner rather than later.

EV Charging Infrastructure Consultation Complete

Council is developing a new Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Policy to guide how this happens on Council owned and managed land, such as public car parks in the area.

Under the draft policy, EV charger operators will take on the cost of installing and operating stations, and Council would receive revenue from the licencing of these sites. Importantly, any new or upgraded stations must be powered by 100% renewable energy. In the draft policy, there are 11 preferred Council-owned off-street car parks designated for future EV charging – in Boronia, Rowville, Bayswater, Wantirna and Ferntree Gully.

The proposed arrangement with future operators is similar to the one Livingstone Shire Council in Queensland was working through as we recently reported, before several Livingstone councillors and its mayor threw a spanner in the works in a head-scratcher of a situation.

But Knox seems to have its act together at this point.

In April, Council kicked off a public consultation seeking opinions on the draft policy. The organisation invited feedback from both EV and non-EV drivers, businesses and charging operators through its Have Your Say website and a couple of pop-up sessions. That wrapped up on Monday. The final policy taking into account public feedback will be completed this month and presented to Council at its meeting on 10 June 2025.

A Farewell To Free EV Charging?

Last year more than 6,000 charging sessions across the three council-owned sites occurred, at a cost to Council of around $21,000. The draft policy indicates this would end, with a yet-to-be-set fee reflecting the cost of charging equipment installation and maintenance, operational costs and electricity costs.

All good things must come to an end as they say¹. Users of these chargers might want to consider their home EV charging options; particularly if they have installed or are considering installing solar panels. Solar powered (or assisted) charging can work out to be super-cheap as well as very convenient for those who can access it.

Like the home rooftop solar revolution, Australia’s councils are playing an important part in supporting EV uptake – and it’s great to see local governments such as Knox City Council charging ahead.