Electric vehicle kerbside charging grants round 3 FAQs

Round 3 funding is available to charge point operators (CPOs). CPOs are companies that own and/or operate electric vehicle (EV) chargers. To be eligible, CPOs must be:

• an entity incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth); or
• a state-owned corporation or subsidiary of an Australian state or territory-owned corporation

Any other entities are not eligible to apply.

You cannot use funding from this program for project costs or activities that are already funded through another grant program, including other NSW or Federal Government grants. This helps prevent multiple funding sources being used for the same costs or activities.

You must disclose any other funding you have applied for or received for the project. If funding for the same costs or activities is received from multiple sources, your applications may be deemed ineligible or withdrawn. For successful applicants, this may be considered a breach of the funding agreement.

CPOs are able to access a map of installed sites.

Yes. CPOs can apply for Round 3 grant funding to install chargers at the same address as a site funded in Rounds 1 or 2. 

These chargers must:

• service a new car parking space 
• consist of entirely new EV charger hardware. 

Upgrades or replacements to chargers installed in Rounds 1 or 2 (e.g. changing from single to dual port chargers) are not permitted. However, new chargers may be connected to an existing switchboard. 

If you are proposing to install chargers on a DNSP asset, please contact the DNSP as soon as possible to discuss your plans for leasing out space on a DNSP asset. 

Yes. Organisations interested in having EV chargers installed at their site or in their council area on the kerbside can register their interest through the site host Expression of Interest application form.

The information you provide will be shared with Charge Point Operators (CPOs). CPOs can use this information to identify sites that may be suitable for their charging solutions. 

Registering your interest does not guarantee that chargers will be installed. However, it helps connect site hosts with CPOs looking for potential locations.

No. Only chargers proposed within the 37 eligible Local Government Areas (LGA) listed in the funding guidelines will be eligible for co-funding in Round 3.

Yes. Applicants may apply for co-funding for sites across multiple LGAs and location types, including kerbside, council carpark and commercial carpark installations, provided all sites meet the eligibility criteria in the funding guidelines. 

There is no limit to the number of sites in an application. However, the total funding requested must not exceed $1,000,000 (ex GST) per application.

Each applicant must request at least $100,000 (ex GST) in NSW Government co-funding. 

There is no minimum number of sites you need to include in an application. However, the total NSW Government co-funding requested across all sites must be at least $100,000 (ex GST). 

Co-funding requested for any individual site must not exceed 80% of the total installation and equipment costs (TIEC) per charge port, as outlined in the funding guidelines.

Under Round 3 kerbside chargers can be installed on the kerbside, council carpark or commercial carparks. 

Kerbside chargers installed on the kerbside must:

• be in an eligible local government area, and on the road verge, adjacent to an area where a vehicle may lawfully be parked
• be available to the public 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, except where the EV charger services a dedicated car share parking space (e.g. GoGet, Popcar).

Kerbside chargers installed in a council or commercial carpark must:

• be in an eligible local government area, on either: 
  • council owned and managed land e.g. community facilities, sports fields
  • commercially owned land e.g. shopping centres, commercial carparks 
• be available to the public for at least 12 hours per day, 7 days per week, except where the EV charger services a dedicated car share parking space (e.g. GoGet, Popcar).

For further information of site requirements, please refer to Table 5 in the funding guidelines. 

Letters of support help confirm that site hosts are aware of the proposed installations sites and support the project. They also demonstrate that applicants have engaged with site hosts and considered site-specific requirements.

Applicants are encouraged to engage with councils and commercial carpark site hosts early in the application period to understand site requirements, approval processes and expected timeframes. 

The letter of support templates available for this funding round at application stage are: 

• letters of support (kerbside installations) 
• letters of support (carpark installations) 

The templates are available on the website. 

For any EV chargers that will interact with electricity supply authority assets (for example, electricity poles, lighting poles or substation kiosks), applicants must also provide a letter of support from the relevant electricity supply authority. 

Yes. Site hosts can provide letters of support to multiple CPOs, including for the same kerbside site or carpark.

Yes. If a charger cannot be installed at an approved site, the grant recipient may request to replace the site or withdraw it from the project. 

Any requests to change a site must be submitted through a variation process. The department will assess each request on a case-by-case basis. 

Approval for a new site, is entirely at the NSW Government’s discretion. Applicants will not be eligible to receive additional co-funding beyond the amount approved for the original site address as outlined in the funding agreement. 

Details of the process for management and variation of the funding agreement are set out in the funding agreement itself which can be found on the kerbside charging grants web page.

Sites installing DC chargers must ensure that all charge ports are supported by dedicated EV-only parking bays. 

A dedicated parking EV charging bay is a parking space reserved for an electric vehicle while it is charging. The bay must be clearly identified through appropriate signage and/or pavement markings, as outlined in the funding guidelines.

Co-funding can only be used for costs related to installing kerbside charging infrastructure. It cannot be used for ongoing, operational, or maintenance costs. Please refer to the eligible expenditure section of the funding guidelines for further details. 

Yes. Eligible expenditure includes bay and line markings, bollards, wheel stops, signage and lighting. 

For a complete list of eligible and ineligible costs, see the eligible expenditure and exclusions section of the funding guidelines.  

Yes. One-off council application fees for changing of parking spaces are eligible. However, ongoing leasing fees are not. For a complete list of eligible and ineligible costs, see the eligible expenditure and exclusions section of the funding guidelines.  

No. Any lease costs are considered operational and are not eligible for co-funding.  

For a complete list of eligible and ineligible costs, see the eligible expenditure and exclusions section of the funding guidelines.

No. Chargers must be operational within 15 months of the signing of a funding agreement with the NSW Government. 

You should answer all application questions as thoroughly as possible to give your application the best chance being selected for co-funding. 

Applications will be reviewed by an assessment panel. Funding decisions will be based on a competitive analysis of applications and the applicant’s ability to address the merit criteria. 

If there are additional funding rounds, unsuccessful applicants may be eligible to apply for funding for the same or different sites in future funding rounds, provided the proposed sites meet the program objectives and eligibility requirements applicable to that round. 

To stay informed about future funding rounds, subscribe to our newsletter on the EV kerbside charging grants website. 

The NSW Government has engaged an external probity advisory firm, O’Connor Marsden & Associates Pty Ltd, in accordance with the NSW Government’s Grants Administration Guide. This helps ensure the application and assessment process is fair and there is no bias in the selection of applicants. 

Please email [email protected] with any questions or queries about the grants assessment process. 

It is the NSW Government’s policy to not disclose merit criteria weightings. Applicants should address all criteria, as best they can, no matter the weighting. Please review the guidelines for more information about the merit criteria.

No, the proximity to existing chargers will not impact the assessment process. Applications will be assessed against the merit criteria in the guidelines.

Yes, multiple CPOs may be awarded funding for chargers in the same LGA. Each CPO must include a letter of support from each site host they are proposing to install chargers in collaboration with.

No. Where 2 or more applicants propose chargers at the same site, the applicant with the highest merit criteria score will be awarded funding for that site. Merit criteria used to assess applicants is provided in the funding guidelines.

Payments to successful applicants will be made in accordance with the two milestones outlined in the funding guidelines. 

The uptime requirement is a measure of charger reliability and refers to the amount of time chargers are operational and available for use. 

Successful grant recipients will be required to report on charger uptime every six months. The NSW Government may also conduct random spot checks on funded installations. 

The minimum uptime requirements are: 

• AC chargers: 99% uptime per month across the applicant’s network of co-funded chargers. 
• DC chargers: 98% uptime per month across the applicant’s network of co-funded chargers for at least 50% of charging plugs.

Applicants should ensure their proposed charging infrastructure and maintenance arrangements can meet these requirements. 

The Charge@Large app is a national visualisation and data reporting tool under development by the Electric Vehicle Council. The intent of the tool is to: 

• show users the live availability status of public EV charging equipment
• provide uptime and utilisation reporting to the NSW Government.

Successful applicants will be required to publish site details for all co-funded chargers on the Charge@Large app by way of an Open Charge Point Interface (OCPI) connection. 

The EV kerbside funding guidelines define a ‘dual port’ charger as “an EV charger with 2 charge ports capable of charging 2 vehicles simultaneously.”

If a DC charger is only capable of charging one vehicle at a time (even if it is described as having ‘dual charging ports’), it will be considered as a single port charger for the purposes of this funding round. In this scenario, the charger may be eligible for up to $30,000 (ex GST) in co-funding for the single charge port. Please read the funding guidelines for further information. 

Yes, chargers may be installed with load management capabilities to ensure efficient power use and maximise usage of chargers.

Whilst TfNSW EV parking bay pavement marking is not a prescribed traffic control device for local and private road operators, the NSW Government encourages its adoption. TfNSW signage can be found on the Transport for NSW website.  

Charge Point Operators (CPOs) installing chargers and making changes to parking bays, should contact the council area where the chargers are to be located for further information. For chargers on commercial land, CPOs should discuss with the relevant site host.

No, RFID card payments are not considered contactless. Contactless payment options must support credit and debit card payments without requiring the user to download any additional software or create any additional accounts prior to payment. 

The list of eligible LGAs may be reviewed and modified for possible subsequent funding rounds to ensure program objectives continue to be met.

Interested parties looking to install chargers in their LGA or on their site may wish to register their interest in the Site Host Expression of Interest program.

Councils interested in supporting CPOs in round 3 of the kerbside grants program can contact the Electric Vehicle Council at [email protected] for a list of CPOs who operate EV kerbside chargers. 

Any submission issues for the online grants management platform (SmartyGrants) can contact the SmartyGrants help desk at [email protected]. The help desk team are available during business hours. 

EV technical advice or grant relevant questions can be submitted by email to our team [email protected]. The Transport Electrification team aim to respond to enquiries within 3 business days. 

Join our online information session: 30 September 2026

Learn everything you need to know about round 3 in this practical session. Hear directly from our team to help you prepare a strong and competitive application.

Register for the webinar.

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