Why pole-mounted kerbside charging is a big step forward for EV owners
Even before the current spike in the price of petrol and the uncertainty over future supply, more and more Australian drivers have been buying electric vehicles.
Last year, around 156,000 electric vehicles were purchased across the country, a 38% increase on 2024 figures. EVs now make up 13% of all new car sales. While we don’t yet have the exact numbers for the first quarter of 2026, sales are tracking 40% ahead of the same period last year.
In addition to rising fuel prices, the growth is being driven by expanding model choice and growing confidence in the technology.
However, one of the things that potential EV buyers are still citing as a major consideration in whether they make the switch from petrol-fuelled vehicles is the availability of charging infrastructure.
That’s why the latest trial, which started last month in Melbourne’s inner eastern suburbs, is set to change the EV landscape.
Is pole charging coming to a street near you?
Two of the electricity distributors that manage the poles and wires across Melbourne’s inner suburbs, the Mornington Peninsula, and much of regional Victoria, CitiPower and Powercor, have just flipped the switch on the first of 100 pole-mounted EV chargers.
The first eight pole-mounted chargers are in Hawthorn and Kew, in the City of Boroondara. The next 92 will be rolled out across the CitiPower, Powercor and United Energy networks at other locations where residents are adopting EVs at high rates but have limited access to off-street parking.
These aren’t your typical chargers buried in a shopping centre carpark or reserved for Tesla owners at a highway rest stop. They’re mounted directly on existing power poles in residential streets.
Multiple e-mobility service providers (EMSPs) are able to offer their services through each charger, so drivers can shop around for the best price before they plug in.
Each unit delivers up to 22kW of AC charging, which means a typical EV could gain 80–100km of range in a couple of hours of kerbside parking.
While this model has been established in Europe, it’s a real step forward for Australia, and we’re excited to be a part of it, as CitiPower has chosen GloBird Energy as its preferred retailer for the trial.
Addressing the infrastructure gap
For all the momentum in EV sales, Australia still has a significant charging problem, particularly for the roughly 30% of Australians who don’t have access to off-street parking.
Apartment owners, renters, inner-city dwellers, and residents of older houses without garages have largely been left out of the home-charging equation that makes EV ownership quite practical for others.
The numbers bear this out: Australia currently has one of the highest ratios of EVs to public chargers in the world (lots of vehicles per charger). While the number of fast-charging sites available along major highways has grown, with 1,272 locations nationally as of mid-2025, that network is built around long-distance travel, not everyday suburban life.
The City of Boroondara has one of the highest EV adoption rates in Victoria, yet access to kerbside charging has been, in the mayor’s words, “a headache” for residents without driveways. That gap exists in inner suburbs across every major Australian city.
As EV ownership broadens from early adopters (who tend to own homes with garages) to the wider community, the charging infrastructure has to reach further into the places people actually live.
Without that, a significant chunk of the potential EV market simply can’t make the switch, no matter how much they’d like to.
What makes this trial one that matters
There’s a lot to like about this model, which is why we’re convinced it’s the start of the next phase of EV adoption.
1. It uses infrastructure that’s already there.
By mounting chargers on existing power poles, the rollout avoids the costly civil works and lengthy connection approvals that have slowed other charging deployments. That means faster rollout and lower cost, savings that can ultimately be passed on to drivers.
2. It introduces competition at the point of charging.
Drivers can pull up, open their phone, and choose between multiple providers. Zuup is already live at those first locations, with Chargefox, AGL, Everty, WeVolt, Origin and Kuga coming online shortly. We know that competition drives down prices, improves service, and rewards providers who offer the best experience. It’s the same logic that keeps energy retail competitive, and it’s the right way to structure a public charging network.
3. It’s grid smart.
Unlike many other chargers, these units can adjust their output based on network conditions, particularly in drawing on abundant rooftop solar during the middle of the day and easing back during peak demand. That’s not just good for the grid; it’s the foundation for the kind of flexible, intelligent charging that will become increasingly important as the EV fleet grows and electricity demand patterns shift.
4. Community input shapes the rollout.
CitiPower, Powercor and United Energy are actively inviting residents to suggest locations for the next phase of installations. That’s infrastructure planning from the ground up, shaped by the people who’ll actually use it.
What it means for your energy plan
At GloBird, we’ve long believed that the energy transition isn’t only about what happens at the grid level, but also about giving everyday customers the tools and flexibility to take real control of their energy use and costs.
The CitiPower pole charging trial is a meaningful step in that direction for EV drivers in Victoria. As more kerbside chargers come online, the ability to choose your charging provider – and to charge when electricity is most abundant and affordable – becomes both viable and valuable.
GloBird Energy offers plans that are designed exactly for this kind of flexible, smarter energy use, including our Four4Free plan, which offers you four full hours of zero-cost power between 10 and 2 every day, and ZEROHERO, designed to give home battery owners the best return on their investment.
Our most recent energy plan is designed solely for homes with an electric vehicle. It has a super low rate midday and overnight to power up that EV and hit the road smiling.
Whether you’re charging at home overnight or topping up kerbside during the day, the right plan makes a real difference to your running costs.
The federal government has committed $40 million to accelerate the kerbside and fast charging rollout nationally, and similar trials are underway in Sydney, with Ausgrid exploring pole-mounted solutions across its network.
That indicates this isn’t a one-off experiment but the beginning of a national infrastructure shift.
We’re on the road to greater EV penetration
Australia needs to sell at least 240,000 EVs in 2026 to stay on track with the government’s emissions targets. The Electric Vehicle Council has been clear: sustained EV uptake depends not just on vehicle choice and price, but on the confidence that comes from knowing you can charge wherever you are.
Pole-mounted kerbside chargers won’t solve every piece of that puzzle. But for the millions of Australians who rent, live in apartments, or simply don’t have a driveway, they remove one of the last practical barriers to going electric.
And in a market where fuel prices are climbing, EV running costs remain a fraction of petrol equivalents, and the vehicle choice has never been better, removing that barrier matters a great deal.
If you’re in Hawthorn or Kew, the chargers are already live. If you’re elsewhere in Melbourne or regional Victoria, your suburb could be next … and the networks want to hear from you about where charging is needed most.
We might still be some way from seeing infrastructure development catch up with EV uptake, but this innovative model shows that we’re making the right moves.