The war on Iran has made crystal clear how shaky our reliance on fossil fuels is. It’s no surprise electric vehicles and transport have become more appealing.

In Australia, sales of electric vehicles surged 40–50%^[1] in March.

That sudden surge came after ten months of relatively slow growth^[2], during which battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles made up roughly 14%^[3] of new car sales. Industry groups saw the sluggishness as a sign^[4] of the difficulties in moving beyond early adopters to the much larger mainstream market.

This market includes people who live in apartments or inner city areas with no off street parking. In Sydney’s eastern suburbs, for example, 60% of residents^[5] live in apartments or townhouses, and 50% rent.

If the millions of Australians in this position are to go electric, they have to be confident in their ability to charge cheaply and conveniently. Relying on public fast chargers won’t be enough, as queues at chargers^[6] over Easter show.

These drivers will need a high quality public kerbside charging network, where drivers can park on a street, plug in a slower but much cheaper charger and head to the shops. In our new research^[7], we lay out what a good kerbside network should look like.

Why kerbside chargers matter

Drivers usually charge their EVs using private chargers at home, public chargers at work or at dedicated fast or ultra-fast charging stations on roads.

Kerbside chargers represent another promising option. These small box-like chargers can be attached to power poles, streetlights or mounted on the footpath. Kerbside chargers usually run at power levels similar to home charging at around 7-22kW, though some run at 30-50kW.

There’s a trade-off between speed and cost. Ultra-fast chargers (150-400kW) can charge an average EV battery from 10 to 80% in around 30 minutes, but cost significantly more than slower chargers. Kerbside chargers cost significantly less, in part because they place far less stress on the power grid.

As well as letting drivers charge without off-street parking, kerbside chargers also build confidence for all EV drivers by expanding the charger network. If one charger is occupied, another will be free.

The federal government last year announced^[8] A$40 million in grant funding to accelerate the kerbside charging rollout, which is about to be delivered. Electricity distributors are lobbying^[9] to be able to provide this infrastructure.

How do we get the rollout right?

To find out how to optimise the kerbside charger rollout, we partnered with Waverley, Woollahra and Randwick Councils in Sydney, whose kerbside network amounts to 94 spaces. It’s well used, with 27,000 charging sessions over the six months to the end of February 2026.

The data from these chargers revealed key insights. Chargers were used much more when they were located near apartments and shops, and when signs restricted use to EVs actively using the chargers.

One surprise was the fact charger usage clustered around daytime and evenings, with little overnight.

Daytime use is good news for the power grid, as it makes sense to charge EVs when floods of cheap solar are being generated. This should lead to lower charging prices during these times.

But it’s less than ideal that a third of total charger use took place during evenings, when the power grid is experiencing peak demand.

As more and more EVs appear on the roads, evening demand from chargers may rise too. Meeting this demand could require expensive grid upgrades.