Lay the council map over Surrey Hills and you find an unusual set-up: one suburb, two councils and two electricity networks. About three-fifths of it, the western and northern side, sits in the City of Boroondara, and the south-eastern corner belongs to the City of Whitehorse. CitiPower’s own network map covers roughly the same Boroondara side, while United Energy supplies the rest. None of that stops a charger going in. It does decide which rules and paperwork follow it, which is why our EV charger installation Surrey Hills visits start with two quick checks before anyone picks up a drill.
Our South Yarra premises on Toorak Road is the base for Surrey Hills jobs, about 9 km away as the crow flies. Our A-grade electricians handle the whole job: the site check, any switchboard work, the charger, testing and the Certificate of Electrical Safety you keep at the end.
EV charger installation Surrey Hills: two councils, two networks
Your rates notice settles the council question. Whitehorse’s own suburb list describes Surrey Hills as shared with Boroondara, and on the state’s Vicmap boundaries the split runs roughly 62 to 38 in Boroondara’s favour. The line follows minor streets and back fences rather than a main road, so it is not something you can guess from the nearest intersection.
The network question matters more for the install itself, so we confirm it for your address before any paperwork goes in. CitiPower’s postcode network locator lists both CitiPower and United Energy for 3127, which confirms the postcode is split without telling you which side you are on, so we check your address against the network maps.
| Part of Surrey Hills | Council | Network (area level) | What changes for your charger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Western and northern side | City of Boroondara | Mostly CitiPower | If the supply needs an upgrade, for example to three-phase, we lodge the alteration through CitiPower’s eConnect portal |
| South-eastern side | City of Whitehorse | United Energy | A wall charger has to be fitted by a registered electrical contractor and lodged on United Energy’s myEnergy portal; we do both |
A small local curiosity: United Energy runs a zone substation named Surrey Hills, and its high-voltage feeders operate at 6.6 kV, an exception in a network that mostly runs at 22 kV and 11 kV. It changes nothing at your meter box. It just shows how varied the poles and wires under a single suburb can be.
Heritage streets: where a charger can sit without a permit
About a quarter of Surrey Hills is covered by a Heritage Overlay. On the Boroondara side that includes the Surrey Hills North Residential Precinct, which takes in parts of Chatham, Croydon, Empress, Guildford and Sir Garnet roads, the English Counties precinct along Durham, Essex, Kent, Middlesex, Norfolk and Suffolk roads, and several precincts around the Union Road shops. Across the line in Whitehorse, the Windsor Park Estate is a precinct of its own.
The charger rule is identical in both councils because it lives in the statewide Heritage Overlay clause. Under Clause 43.01 of the planning scheme, an electric vehicle charging station needs a planning permit only when it is visible from a street (other than a lane) or a public park. Out of sight means no heritage permit. Where it truly has to be visible, the application runs through VicSmart, the state’s streamlined stream for minor works, and it skips public notice and third-party appeals.
So we start by hunting for a spot the street cannot see: inside the garage, on a side wall behind the front of the house, or under a rear carport. Honestly, even where the rules would allow a charger beside a period front door, we would talk you out of it. A neat unit on a garage side wall ages far better.
If solar is part of the plan, note that several of these precincts, including Surrey Hills North and English Counties, have solar controls switched on, so panels visible from a street need a permit as well. If daytime charging from your own roof is the goal, ask about our solar EV charger installation, which ties the charger to what the panels produce.
Driveways, garages and two-car households
At the 2021 Census, two-thirds of occupied homes in Surrey Hills were separate houses and one in five was a townhouse, semi or terrace. The same count found 41.8 per cent of households running two cars and 15.5 per cent running three or more. Plenty of families here will end up with two EVs, so we plan the first charger with the second in mind.
A side driveway to a rear garage
Switchboard near the front door, garage at the rear: the length of that run becomes the main cost driver. On a 32 A single-phase circuit, 6 mm² cable is usual, and a long run can call for the next size up to keep voltage drop in check. We run conduit along the house wall or under the eaves where we can, and trench only where there is no tidy alternative.
A carport beside the house
Carports are easier to reach but more exposed. We fit a charger its maker rates for outdoor use, mount it clear of where a bumper might land, and give the lead a proper holster so it is not lying across the slab.
A townhouse with its own garage
Newer townhouses often put the garage close to their own switchboard, which keeps the run short. The questions become capacity and common property. Where a cable would cross a shared driveway that is common property, the owners corporation has to approve it before work starts. The rest follows the same steps as our home EV charger installation across Melbourne.
Switchboard checks before a 7 kW charger
On single-phase power, we usually recommend a 7 kW wall charger, the type CitiPower describes as suiting people who drive their EV regularly. Before we fit one, we check four things on your board:
- Spare space for a dedicated circuit and its protection.
- The type of safety switch. New work has been barred from using Type AC RCDs since 1 May 2023, and EV chargers can create DC leakage that older devices may miss, so we pick Type A or Type B protection depending on whether the charger detects DC faults itself.
- The main switch and maximum demand, so the house can run the charger, oven and heating at the same time.
- Your network’s advice on large single-phase loads. The Victorian Service and Installation Rules treat it as guidance, and we confirm what your distributor expects before fitting a 32 A charger.
If your board still has ceramic fuses or no free space, it needs work first, and the switchboard upgrades for EV chargers page sets out what that involves. A 22 kW charger is a different conversation: it needs three-phase power, and it only helps if your car’s onboard charger accepts that much on AC.
How a Surrey Hills install runs
- Photos and your bill. After you enquire, reply to our email with shots of your meter box, your switchboard and the spot where the car parks, plus a recent electricity bill.
- Site check. We confirm the cable route, the board’s capacity and whether the charger spot can be seen from the street.
- Quote. We spell out what drives the cost: how far the cable runs, how much spare capacity the switchboard has, your supply type, whether we need to trench, any network approval, and which charger you pick.
- Network step. On the United Energy side we register the charger on myEnergy. On either side, if the supply needs upgrading, we apply to the distributor.
- Install and test. A dedicated circuit and the charger, then the mandatory tests, including earthing, insulation resistance, polarity and RCD operation.
- Certificate and handover. You receive a Certificate of Electrical Safety, and we set up the charger’s app and charging schedule with you.
When the car lives on the street
Not every Surrey Hills home has a driveway. Boroondara says it is adding public chargers because not every EV driver has off-street parking, and its Climate Action Plan Implementation Plan commits to charging stations within 2 km of activity centres by 2030. The council also hosted Victoria’s first electricity pole-mounted chargers, a pilot in Ashburton run by EVX. Separately, CitiPower, Powercor and United Energy are trialling 100 pole-mounted 22 kW chargers, favouring sites where EV uptake is strong and off-street parking is hard to find. The City of Boroondara’s EV charging page lists current locations.
Our work stops at your boundary. We install on private property, and a lead trailing across a public footpath is a trip hazard we would steer you away from.
Frequently asked questions across both sides of Surrey Hills
Will a heritage overlay stop me putting a charger on my Surrey Hills house?
No. A permit only comes into it where the charger can be seen from a street or a public park, and a lane is not counted as a street. A garage, or a side wall behind the front of the house, usually avoids the trigger; where a visible spot can’t be avoided, the application goes through VicSmart, the state’s faster stream for minor works.
How do I know whether CitiPower or United Energy supplies my house?
We confirm it for your address. The postcode locator shows both CitiPower and United Energy for 3127, so it can’t settle a split postcode on its own. As a rough guide, the Boroondara side is mostly CitiPower and the Whitehorse side is United Energy.
Will a 22 kW charger charge my car faster than a 7 kW one?
Only with a three-phase supply and a car that accepts more than 7 kW on AC. The car’s onboard charger sets the ceiling, so we check your car’s specification before recommending anything.
Can you install a charger I bought myself?
Yes. Whether it came with the car or from a shop, we check the model suits an Australian home supply, then wire, test and certify it just as we would a charger we supply.
Which council assesses a heritage permit for a Surrey Hills charger?
The one on your rates notice: Boroondara for the western and northern part of the suburb, Whitehorse for the south-eastern part. The test for a visible charger is the same in both planning schemes; only the council assessing the application changes.
Whichever side of the council line you are on, the first step is the same: tell us your car and parking set-up through our contact page for a charger quote, or call 1300 003 853; the lines are open 7am to 7pm, Monday to Saturday. Every job is done under our Victorian registration, REC 35838. If you are just over the line in Whitehorse, our EV charger installation in Mont Albert page covers the United Energy side in more depth.