The 120-year-old Mont Albert station building is still standing, just not where it used to be. After the level crossing removal it was taken off site, restored and reinstated on the Beresford side of the line, where it now links towards the Hamilton Street shops and houses cape café, a social enterprise beside a new plaza. Trains now stop at Union station, in the 1.3-kilometre rail trench that replaced the Union Road and Mont Albert Road level crossings in 2023.
The streets around it have changed more slowly, and they hold an unusual mix of homes. At the 2021 Census, 35 per cent of Mont Albert’s occupied dwellings were townhouses, semis or terraces, alongside 53.7 per cent separate houses. That townhouse share shapes a lot of EV charger installation Mont Albert work, because a townhouse charger raises questions a house charger never does. Our A-grade electricians come out from our premises at 128 Toorak Rd, South Yarra, about 10 km away.
Mont Albert at a glance for EV owners
| Topic | What applies in Mont Albert |
|---|---|
| Council | City of Whitehorse, with a small western edge in the City of Boroondara |
| Electricity network | United Energy; CitiPower’s mapped area only clips the western edge |
| Homes (2021 Census) | 53.7% separate houses, 35.0% townhouses and semis, 10.8% apartments |
| Cars | 53.5% of households had two or more |
| Heritage | About a fifth of the suburb sits in a Heritage Overlay |
| Our nearest premises | South Yarra, 128 Toorak Rd, about 10 km |
Two rows in that table do most of the work on a quote: the townhouse share and the heritage coverage. The network row is simpler. Unless you live right on the western edge, your poles and wires belong to United Energy, and we confirm it for your address. If you are on that edge, our page on EV charger installation in Surrey Hills explains the CitiPower side.
EV charger installation Mont Albert: townhouses and shared driveways
Take a hypothetical pair of townhouses on a subdivided block off Mont Albert Road: one shared driveway down the side, a garage at the back of each, and the meters grouped in a bank near the street. Nothing about that layout rules out a charger. It just turns a simple job into a question of who owns what.
When the garage connects to your own switchboard
If your garage is part of your lot and your switchboard sits inside your unit, the job looks like any house install: a dedicated circuit, the right protection, the charger and a short cable run. That is usually the most straightforward version of the job.
When the cable has to cross common property
Shared driveways, meter banks and the strips beside them are often common property, so the owners corporation decides before we start. Depending on what is involved, that can be an ordinary resolution, a simple majority of the votes cast, or, for a change that significantly alters the look or use of the shared areas, a special resolution supported by 75 per cent, as Consumer Affairs Victoria’s voting guide sets out. We supply a written scope and a marked-up route so the committee knows exactly what it is approving. Bigger unit groups and apartment blocks have their own page: apartment and strata EV charging.
When the meters are at the street and the garage is at the back
This is the layout that adds length. If your unit’s supply starts at a meter bank near the footpath and your garage sits at the far end of the drive, the charger circuit may need a larger cable size, or a separate small distribution board in the garage fed from your main board. Either way, the route has to stay on your side of the common property line unless the owners corporation has agreed otherwise.
When two cars share a carport
Two chargers on a shared supply usually need load management so they do not trip the main switch when both cars plug in at six o’clock. One charger can also serve both cars on a schedule, with each household’s use tracked in the app if the charger supports it.
Heritage precincts: Mont Albert Residential, Blacks Estate and Churchill Street
Roughly a fifth of Mont Albert sits under a Heritage Overlay. The largest area is the Mont Albert Residential Precinct, followed by the Blacks Estate and Churchill Street precincts, and the Mont Albert Shopping Centre precinct and Mont Albert Primary School on Inglisby Road are listed too.
For chargers, the test in these precincts is visibility. If people on the street or in a public park could see it, a permit is needed, while a view from a rear lane doesn’t count; a unit tucked inside a garage, or anywhere the street and parks cannot see, needs no permit. If you do need one, it runs as a VicSmart application, without public notice. Whitehorse’s heritage planning page explains how to check your property on Whitehorse Maps and download its heritage citation, which also tells you whether your place is rated significant, contributory or non-contributory.
Garages that open onto a rear lane get an easier ride for exactly that reason: a charger seen only from the lane needs no heritage permit.
Two side notes. These precincts also carry solar controls, so a street-facing solar array needs a permit too. And the shopping centre precinct has external paint controls, so a shop adding a charger should check before repainting the wall behind it.
What United Energy asks of a home charger
United Energy supplies almost all of Mont Albert, and its EV charging guidance is plain: a wall or fast charger has to go in through a registered electrical contractor, and it has to be recorded on United Energy’s myEnergy portal. The same registration applies to smart chargers that adjust their charging rate to network conditions. We file that registration ourselves, so it never lands on your to-do list.
Some homes may need a supply upgrade before EV charging, the same guidance notes. In a townhouse we look first at the unit’s own switchboard and main switch, then at the supply feeding the meter bank. Our switchboard upgrade work for EV chargers covers boards that are full, old or underrated, and our home EV charger installation service explains charger choices in more detail.
United Energy also points out that charging during the day lets you use flexible time-of-use tariffs and draw on renewable energy when there is plenty of it. If you work from home a few days a week, a charger with a built-in schedule makes that easy to set and forget.
From quote to first charge
A townhouse job usually runs in this order. We start with the details of your switchboard, meter bank and parking spot, then visit to confirm the cable route and capacity. If anything crosses common property, the owners corporation decides next, and nothing is ordered until it has. Installation follows: the circuit, the charger, then the six mandatory electrical tests, from earth continuity through to RCD trip checks. We register the charger with United Energy, hand over the Certificate of Electrical Safety and walk you through the app before we leave.
One choice to make before we order: tethered or untethered. A tethered unit comes with its cable and plug attached; an untethered one has a socket, and you use a separate cable. In a tight townhouse garage, a tethered unit with a wall holster keeps the lead off the floor; an untethered one looks tidier on a visible wall.
What drives the cost is the same list every time: the length of the cable run, whether your switchboard needs work, your supply type, any trenching or core drilling, network approval and the charger you choose. We put each one in writing so you can compare quotes properly.
Street parking, renting and the village shops
About 28 per cent of Mont Albert households rented at the 2021 Census. For a renter, a wall box is fixed wiring on the owner’s property, so we book nothing until the owner has agreed to it, and we can send them the proposed location and cable route to look over first.
For cars that live on the street, CitiPower, Powercor and United Energy are trialling 100 chargers on power poles, with sites prioritised where EV uptake is high and off-street parking is limited.
For the shops near Hamilton Street, a charger for staff or customers is a commercial job with its own load and billing questions, which our commercial EV charger installation team handles.
Frequently asked questions from Mont Albert townhouse and heritage owners
Does my owners corporation need to approve a charger in my townhouse garage?
If any cable, conduit or connection touches common property, yes. If the work stays inside your own lot and runs from your own switchboard, check your owners corporation’s rules anyway, because they can still cover changes to the outside of a lot.
Which part of Mont Albert does CitiPower supply?
Only a sliver. CitiPower’s network map clips the suburb’s western edge, and its postcode locator lists both companies for 3127. Almost all of Mont Albert is United Energy, and we confirm the network for your address before lodging anything.
Does a charger seen only from a rear lane need a heritage permit in Mont Albert?
No. Clause 43.01-1 names streets and public parks as the views that matter and expressly leaves out lanes, so a charger on a garage wall facing only a rear lane needs no heritage permit. If one is required, VicSmart handles it, and EV charger applications are exempt from public notice and review.
Is a 7 kW charger quick enough to charge overnight?
Usually. CitiPower’s guide puts a 7 kW wall unit at about 30 to 40 kilometres of driving added each hour, and Solar Victoria says an average home charge takes 6 to 8 hours. Your car’s battery size and onboard charger change the exact figure.
Do you handle the United Energy registration?
Yes. Registering the charger on United Energy’s myEnergy portal is part of our installation, along with testing and the Certificate of Electrical Safety.
Mont Albert is a short run from South Yarra, and a quote starts with a few details about your site. Use our contact page to arrange a site visit, or phone 1300 003 853; we answer 7am to 7pm, Monday to Saturday. All of this is done under REC 35838, our Victorian electrical contractor registration.