Sometimes. If your board has no spare poles for the charger's breaker, or it's an older board that could be on an asbestos panel, you'll probably need an upgrade first. Here's what to look for before anyone comes out.
Buying the car is the easy bit. The real question is whether your switchboard can keep up with it. A lot of older Perth boards were set up for the basics: lights, a fridge, a TV and maybe a split system. A wall charger is a very different kind of load.
A kettle is on for a couple of minutes, then it's done. An oven heats up, then switches itself on and off to hold the temperature. Your wiring gets a break between those bursts.
A charger doesn't give it a break. It can pull up to 32 amps, flat out, for hours at a time, and usually it's running all night while you sleep.
That steady load is what finds the weak spots. A loose connection or a tired old fuse that's been fine for years can start running hot once it's carrying that kind of current for hours on end. That's why we check the board properly before a charger goes in.
Some of these mean a new switchboard. Others are sorted with a new breaker and an RCD. Either way, we'll tell you which one it is and why before any work starts.
See what a full upgrade involves on our switchboard upgrades page.
Your main board is in good nick, there's just no room left on it. Rather than replace the lot, we can often fit a small sub-board beside it to hold the charger's circuit and its RCD, and leave the rest of the house alone.
Best for: newer homes with a modern board that's simply run out of space.
Common in older homes. The old ceramic fuses or tired breakers come out, and a new board goes in with modern circuit breakers, RCDs and, if you want it, surge protection. The whole house ends up safer, not just the car's circuit.
Best for: homes with ceramic fuses, no RCDs, or a board on an asbestos panel.
Most Perth homes are single-phase, and for most people an overnight charge on single-phase is plenty. If you want faster charging or you've got two EVs, three-phase can make sense. It means going through Western Power for a bigger supply, so it's a bigger job and a bigger cost. How much faster you'll charge depends on your car, as plenty of EVs can only take so much from a home charger.
Best for: two-EV households, or anyone doing big kilometres every day.
Some chargers can soak up your spare solar during the day, so you're charging the car on power you've already made. The Fronius Wattpilot and Zappi both do this. It's worth thinking about before you buy a charger, because it can change which one suits you best.
The easiest way to find out: take a photo of your switchboard with the door open, and one of where you'd like the charger to go. Send them through and I'll tell you over the phone whether your board is fine as it is or needs some work. It costs nothing, and you'll know where you stand.
Our EV charger installation page has current pricing and a form where you can send the photos straight to us.
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