A parliamentary inquiry has just been launched to examine all the major issues facing the state's transition to electric vehicles, and it's open now for you to have your say.
Electric Cars
Victoria has launched an inquiry into what’s needed to ensure the best and fairest electricity supply for electric vehicles, with submissions now open for you to have your say.
The State Parliament’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee will examine strategies to reduce EV charging during periods of peak demand on the grid, and increase it when there’s more supply.
It will also look at whether public charging infrastructure is being rolled out quickly enough across the state, particularly in inner-city areas of Melbourne where on-street parking is more limited, and how old EV batteries can be repurposed or recycled.
Committee Chair Georgie Purcell said the inquiry will consider how the state’s electricity networks can support the rollout of infrastructure, including how tariffs are set.
“We’re looking at how Victoria can support the transition to electric vehicles in a way that benefits both consumers and the energy system,” she said.
“This includes making sure charging is accessible, affordable and sustainable.”
The announcement comes as New South Wales electricity contractors are warning that allowing networks to directly own pole-mounted electric vehicle chargers means everyone pays for them and not just those who actually own an EV, while the companies make huge profits.
According to the Australian Financial Review, the networks are lobbying the NSW Government to rewrite the rules preventing them from directly owning pole-mounted chargers and are seeking a waiver for similar rules in Victoria.
In recent months, several companies have announced plans to introduce hundreds of pole-mounted chargers across Greater Sydney, including EVX, Jolt, and Ausgrid.
Additionally, customers with Ausgrid – the largest distributor in New South Wales, covering 1.7 million homes across Sydney, the Central Coast and the Hunter Valley – can also now apply to have Vehicle to Grid (V2G)-compatible electric-car hardware installed.
It joins SA Power Networks in South Australia, and Essential Energy in NSW in offering support for V2G – the former since the technology launched at Mitsubishi’s headquarters in Adelaide in mid-2024, and the latter since April 2025.
An issue not strictly within the scope of the inquiry, but one that it could explore is the legal loophole that allows some building developers to retrospectively fit electric car chargers to new high-density buildings, such as apartment blocks and offices, without approval from fire authorities.
Changes to the National Construction Code made in 2024 say that 100 per cent of parking spaces in apartment buildings should be wired ready to have EV chargers installed, as well as 10 per cent of offices and retail spaces, and 20 per cent of other commercial sites.
But crucially, there is no legal requirement for fire suppression methods to be upgraded alongside this, which has prompted fire authorities across Australia to have major concerns, as exclusively revealed by Drive last year.
Multiple sources have told Drive that plans for electric car chargers in new buildings are being removed from applications by some developers and retrofitted later to bypass fire authorities.
The question of whether a building’s insurance will cover the damage from a fire if EV chargers are retrofitted is also a grey area, with some insurers not giving a clear answer on what would happen and who would be liable.
To have your say, visit the Inquiry website here. It will produced its report on March 27, 2026.
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A born-and-bred newshound, Kathryn has worked her way up through the ranks reporting for, and later editing, two renowned UK regional newspapers and websites, before moving on to join the digital newsdesk of one of the world’s most popular newspapers – The Sun. More recently, she’s done a short stint in PR in the not-for-profit sector, and led the news team at Wheels Media.
