The federal government’s $40 million plan to install around 14,000 EV chargers on power poles around Australia is due to hit a major snag, according to a new report: a lack of access due to drivers of internal-combustion vehicles nicking the required parking spots.

Under the Accelerating EV Charging Program, the government is bringing the chargers to high-density areas in cities in an attempt to fill gaps in the nation’s public charging network. The idea is to identify spots where residents struggle to charge at home due to poor access to off-street parking.

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However, a report by the ABC has found that the installers of the new chargers don’t have to negotiate with local councils to secure EV-only parking, meaning electric vehicle owners will struggle to access the equipment as ICE vehicles take the charging spots.

Modelling for the Accelerating EV Charging Program, which aims to have the installations up and running by 2029, states that each charger will service approximately 30 EVs. That has been thrown into doubt by the ABC’s report, which used data shared by local councils to show that many of the chargers will be badly under-utilised.

There is a higher percentage of EVs on the road in Sydney’s east than the rest of the country, and the area’s residents are more likely to live in apartments, preventing many from accessing home charging. 

That makes the city’s east a prime target for the government’s program, but one council in the area told the national broadcaster that public EV charging spots that don’t have dedicated EV parking are only used at five to 10 per cent of the rate of spots with dedicated parking. One of the under-utilised spots in the area was only used four times in a year.

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Sydney’s Inner West Council, which is similar to the east in terms of EV take-up and home-charging capabilities, said chargers with dedicated EV parking were used more than four times as often as chargers without the parking.

The ABC also quoted an analysis by the Australian Energy Market Commission, which found “limited reliable evidence on increased EV update for AC kerbside charging infrastructure without dedicated parking bays”.

The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water backed the plan in a statement saying the program will feature “a mix” of dedicated and non-dedicated charging sites, and it expects the number of EVs on Aussie roads will keep increasing, leading to greater use of the kerbside equipment.