In Mordialloc, townhouses and similar attached homes outnumber freestanding houses: 45.6% of occupied dwellings against 39.8% at the 2021 Census, with flats and apartments making up most of the rest. That one statistic is why EV charger installation Mordialloc planning usually starts with the townhouse question. On a townhouse site the questions are less about kilowatts and more about who owns the driveway, where the meter sits and how far the garage is from it.
Mordialloc work is handled from 125 Charman Rd, our Beaumaris premises, about 4 km from the centre of the suburb. Whether the charger comes from us or arrived with your car, our A-grade electricians handle the circuit, testing and network registration in one job.
EV charger installation Mordialloc: start with the plan of subdivision
Before we talk chargers on a townhouse job, we ask to see the plan of subdivision, or at least the title. It answers the question that decides everything else: is the driveway, the visitor bay or the strip of land beside your garage your own lot, or is it common property managed by an owners corporation? If the cable can run entirely through your own lot, the job is yours to approve. If it has to cross common property, other owners get a say.
The plan also hints at the electrical layout. Two-lot and three-lot developments often have a bank of meters near the street with sub-mains running back to each dwelling, sometimes to a small board in each garage. That small board is where a charger circuit usually starts, so its capacity and spare space matter more than the main switchboard in the street-front meter box. Where a garage board is already full, our switchboard upgrades sort that out before the charger goes in.
Three townhouse layouts and how each one charges
Townhouse sites generally fall into one of three patterns, and the diagram below sums them up.
The front townhouse with its garage on the street
This is usually the simplest. The garage sits close to the meter, the cable run is short, and the charger can go on an internal wall where it is protected from weather and out of sight. A standard 7 kW single-phase unit suits most owners here.
In a narrow single garage we also think about where the lead will hang. A tethered charger keeps its cable attached, which is convenient but needs a tidy place to coil it; an untethered unit has only a socket, so you carry your own cable. Mounting on the wall nearest the car’s charge port keeps the lead off the floor and clear of the roller door tracks.
The rear townhouse at the end of a shared driveway
The run is longer and may pass under or beside the shared driveway. If that driveway is common property, trenching or fixing conduit along it needs the owners corporation’s agreement, and we plan the route so it does not cut across the neighbour’s parking.
The unit with a carport or open bay
Here the car often sits in a bay that belongs to the lot but is reached across common property, with the supply coming from a shared meter panel. We map the route, size the cable and put a written proposal to the owners corporation.
When the owners corporation has to agree
Even a two-lot development can have an owners corporation if the plan of subdivision creates common property. The Owners Corporations Act 2006 (section 52) generally requires a special resolution, meaning support from 75% of lots or 75% of lot entitlements in a ballot, before an owners corporation significantly alters the use or appearance of common property. A conduit run along a common driveway wall is a small thing physically, but it still needs the paperwork done properly.
We make that easy for the other owners to say yes to. The proposal shows the cable route, how the charger is metered so nobody else pays for your electricity, and how the work will be made good. On larger sites with several EVs on the way, it is usually smarter to plan a shared backbone once than to approve one-off runs every year. Our owners corporation and strata charging service covers that bigger-picture planning.
Mordialloc Creek, flood overlays and charger height
Parts of Mordialloc sit under flood-related planning overlays. The Land Subject to Inundation Overlay covers land that floods in a major event from an open watercourse or drain, and in Mordialloc it follows the low ground around Mordialloc Creek and the area’s drains. Special Building Overlays mark overland flow paths from the stormwater system. Kingston’s land subject to flooding page explains that Melbourne Water is the floodplain authority for the inundation overlay, and that both Melbourne Water and council manage special building overlays.
Chargers sit within the clause 62.02-2 exemption from buildings-and-works permits, and the flood overlays do not single them out, so they rarely stop an install. They do change where we put things. In a garage that sits low on the block, the charger and its connections go well up the wall rather than near the slab, conduit comes down from above where possible, and junctions stay out of the zone where water could pool. If you are not sure whether your property is affected, the overlay shows on a property planning report, and we check it as part of the quote. And if your garage has ever taken water, tell us; it changes where the circuit’s connections go as well as the charger.
Main Street, Ormond Street and the creek foreshore
Mordialloc has 20 entries in Kingston’s Heritage Overlay schedule, second only to Mentone in the municipality. They include the Main Street precinct, the Mordialloc Creek and foreshore precinct with its pier, seawall and bandstand, the railway station on Albert Street and the Kingston Club Hotel. Where one of those properties is involved, a Heritage Overlay planning permit is triggered if the charger is visible from a street (lanes excepted) or a public park. Away from heritage places, no permit is generally needed for the charger.
Ormond Street has its own control. A Neighbourhood Character Overlay describes Victorian and Edwardian houses “not generally found elsewhere in the municipality”, mostly timber, with small front setbacks. With the houses that close to the street, a charger on the front of the building would be obvious, so we look for a side or rear position and keep conduit discreet. Kingston’s activity centre policy describes the future of Pompei’s Landing as a “maritime village fostering the boating history of Mordialloc”, and its design controls aim to reinforce a low-rise coastal village, so a bright wall box on a street-facing wall would be out of step there too.
Solar on a townhouse roof
Townhouse roofs are smaller than a freestanding house’s, so a solar system on one tends to be modest. That makes the charger’s settings more important than its size. Solar Victoria notes that home solar can reduce or eliminate the cost of charging, and that a system too small to take a battery from empty to full in one day can still keep up with regular top-ups. A smart charger that follows the panels’ output does exactly that topping up.
Our opinion, for what it is worth: a Mordialloc townhouse owner gets more from a smart 7 kW charger that soaks up midday solar than from a 22 kW unit the car may not even be able to use. Set-up options are on our solar EV charger installation page, and charger choices sit under home EV charger installation.
United Energy, registration and the site visit
CitiPower and Powercor’s distributor-finder data lists every 3195 suburb, Mordialloc included, under United Energy. United Energy’s rules call for a REC to install any home wall charger and for it to be recorded in myEnergy, its online connection service, and some homes may need a supply upgrade first; its EV charging guidance sets this out. We lodge the registration, and if your townhouse’s sub-main is too small for the extra load, we will tell you before anything is ordered.
The site visit covers the plan of subdivision, the meter and garage boards, the cable route and any overlays. You get a written quote, and once the work is installed and tested, DUKE EV (REC 35838) issues your Certificate of Electrical Safety. The housing figures quoted above come from the ABS 2021 Census QuickStats for Mordialloc.
Frequently asked questions about townhouse charging in Mordialloc
How do I know if my driveway is common property?
Check the plan of subdivision for your property, which shows each lot and the common property. If the driveway is common property, cable work along it has to be approved by the owners corporation first.
Does a flood overlay stop me installing a charger?
Rarely. The overlays mainly control buildings and works such as extensions. For a charger, they change where we mount equipment, keeping it well above the floor in low garages.
Can two townhouses share one charger?
It can be done, but metering, access and who pays all need agreement. It is usually simpler for each dwelling to have its own charger on its own meter.
My townhouse is on Ormond Street. Is a charger allowed?
Yes. A charger is generally exempt from planning permits, but if the property is in the Heritage Overlay and the charger would be visible from the street, a permit is needed. We aim for a side or rear position to avoid that.
Is Mordialloc close to one of your premises?
Yes. Measured in a straight line, the middle of Mordialloc is about 4 km from our Beaumaris premises on Charman Road.
Book a visit and we will come back with a clear plan for your townhouse, unit or house. Use our contact page, or phone 1300 003 853 from 7am to 7pm any day except Sunday. You can also read about charging in neighbouring Mentone or our Beaumaris premises.