At the 2021 Census, 46.8% of Toorak households ran two or more vehicles: 32.1% had two and 14.7% had three or more. So when we plan an EV charger installation Toorak homeowners will rely on for years, we ask about the second car as well as the first, even if it still runs on petrol.
We don’t have an office in Toorak itself. The suburb is looked after from 128 Toorak Road, our South Yarra premises, less than 2 km west of Toorak Village along the same road. That keeps our A-grade electricians close for site visits, installation days and the return trips a supply upgrade can involve.
EV charger installation Toorak starts with the second car
Toorak’s housing is more varied than its reputation. In 2021 about half of occupied homes were flats or apartments, 30.4% were separate houses and 19.8% were terraces, townhouses or semi-detached houses. The average home had 2.7 bedrooms and 1.7 vehicles.
For a house with room for two cars, the first charger is the moment to make the second one easy. We’ll agree where a second unit would sit, leave space on the switchboard for its protection devices, and size any supply to a detached garage for two charger circuits rather than one. Getting those decisions right now costs less than revisiting them when the second car turns up.
It’s also the time to pick a charger that plays well with others. Some basic units can’t take part in load sharing, so where a second EV is on the cards, we’ll steer you towards one that can.
Think about the parking, too. Tethered units come with a cable and plug attached; untethered ones have only a socket, and you supply the lead. In a garage where two cars swap bays, or where charge ports sit on different sides of different models, where each unit is mounted and how far its cable reaches matter more than the brand on the front.
How two chargers share one Toorak switchboard
A 32 A single-phase charger draws roughly 7.4 kW, so two running flat out add close to 15 kW to whatever the house is already doing. On a winter evening with the oven, heating and a dryer going, that can be more than a single-phase supply has to give. Load management is the answer for most homes. A controller measures the household load and tells the chargers how much current they may share, throttling them back while the house is busy and letting them run once it settles.
The night is usually long enough for both. Solar Victoria puts the average home charge time at 6 to 8 hours, and a car topping up after a normal day rarely needs a full charge. Smart chargers can also be scheduled from an app, so one car charges first and the second follows, or both wait for cheaper time-of-use rates where your retailer offers them.
| Setup | How it works | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| One charger, shared | The cars take turns, swapped by hand or on a schedule | Homes where one car only does short local trips |
| Two chargers, load shared | A controller divides the available current between both chargers and the house | Two-EV homes on a single-phase supply |
| Two chargers on three-phase | More total capacity, spread across three phases | Larger homes, and cars that accept higher AC charging rates |
| Solar-aware charging | Charging follows rooftop solar output during daylight | Cars that spend much of the day at home |
If there are panels on the roof, solar-aware EV charging lets a smart charger soak up daytime generation. Solar Victoria makes a point that’s easy to forget: daytime solar sent to the car can’t also cover the evening, and a home battery is one way around that.
Long driveways, detached garages and front gates
On a large block, the switchboard and the car can be a long way apart. A garage that sits at the far end of the drive, or one set across the garden from the house, means a long cable run, and the cable has to be sized for that length. If the route crosses lawn, garden beds or paving, expect trenching, and anything already buried along the way has to be located first.
For a detached garage, a small sub-board of its own, fed from the main switchboard, is often the tidiest arrangement. The charger circuits start there, and adding a second charger later becomes a short job. If the main board can’t take the extra load as it stands, the switchboard work for a second charger comes first.
Front gates raise a different question. A charger on a gate pier or front fence is handy for a car parked near the street, but it’s on show to everyone walking past. In the Montalto Avenue Precinct, for example, the statement of significance lists original or period-appropriate front fences among the elements that make the precinct significant, next to building designs that responded to the rise of the motor car. We’d much rather mount the charger behind the building line, on a side wall or a discreet pedestal, than fix it to a fence a heritage statement singles out.
Toorak’s heritage precincts after June 2026
Toorak sits entirely within the City of Stonnington, and its heritage controls changed this year. The Toorak, Kooyong and Armadale Heritage Review (Amendment C320ston) was approved with changes on 29 May 2026 and gazetted on 11 June 2026. Its statements of significance describe places such as:
- the Lansell Road Precinct, which includes Langi at 579 Toorak Road, an Interwar Prairie-style building designed by Walter Burley Griffin, and the Interwar Streamline Moderne apartment building at 577 Toorak Road
- the Clendon Road Precinct, noted for its generous allotments
- the St Georges Court Precinct, with its interwar two-storey houses
- Royal Terrace at 286-292 Williams Road, a row of boom-era Victorian Italianate terraces
Council’s heritage guidelines set out which works in a Heritage Overlay require a planning permit, including installing services such as heating and cooling systems, and they ask for services and equipment to sit behind the front of the building and out of street view. EV chargers aren’t named in the guidelines or in any of the precinct statements above. So we treat a charger like any other piece of equipment on a heritage house: out of sight where the site allows, and a conversation with Council’s planners where it doesn’t.
Three-phase power with CitiPower
Toorak 3142 is on the CitiPower network, which CitiPower’s postcode network locator confirms. A single-phase house that wants two higher-output chargers, or a 22 kW unit, needs a three-phase supply, and CitiPower’s own EV guidance says 22 kW home units require three-phase power and won’t suit every customer.
Check the car before you upgrade for it. On AC, a car charges no faster than its own onboard charger allows. The Polestar 2 is a handy example: its Australian specifications list AC charging at 11 kW from a three-phase, 16 A supply, and that is all it will draw even from a 22 kW wall box. In our view that makes a 22 kW charger the wrong buy for plenty of households, Toorak included.
When an upgrade does make sense, it’s lodged through CitiPower’s eConnect portal, which takes alteration applications only from registered electrical contractors. CitiPower’s guidance on altering an existing supply says most works take 3 to 8 weeks, and longer when appointments are missed or retailer service orders are delayed. If the local network can’t support the change, a network upgrade process applies instead. Our three-phase upgrade service for EV charging covers the work at your end.
The order matters. We work out the new maximum demand with both chargers included, lodge the alteration, and complete the switchboard and service work. The Electrical Work Request and Certificate of Electrical Safety then go in, a metering provider working for your retailer installs the new meter, and CitiPower connects once it holds the certificate. Anything that needs the distributor on site is worth booking early.
Apartment buildings and shared parking in Toorak
About half of Toorak’s homes are flats or apartments, from interwar blocks such as the Streamline Moderne building at 577 Toorak Road to far newer developments. In shared parking, a charger needs the owners corporation on board, and the bigger decision is usually whether to plan for every bay rather than one.
The state government’s strata EV guide, released in August 2026, was reported to recommend dynamic load management for buildings of more than 100 lots, and to say vehicle-to-grid isn’t yet a viable standard option for most strata buildings. For a smaller block, a simpler managed setup can do the job. Recent apartment buildings that follow the National Construction Code’s EV-ready rules start further ahead: the EV circuits in their car parks must be able to supply at least 12 kWh to a charger overnight, between 11 pm and 7 am, even before any charger is fitted. Our service for EV charging in apartment buildings covers the assessment, metering and load management side.
Frequently asked questions about two-car and heritage homes in Toorak
Can two EVs share a single-phase supply overnight?
Yes, with load management. A controller shares the available current between both chargers and the rest of the house, so the main supply isn’t overloaded. Each car may charge more slowly while both are plugged in, which rarely matters across a full night.
Has the 2026 heritage review changed what I can install?
It may have. Amendment C320ston was gazetted on 11 June 2026, so a property inside one of its precincts or places now falls under the Heritage Overlay, including its permit requirements for some external works. Chargers aren’t named in Council’s guidelines, so we keep them out of street view and check with Council when a site won’t allow that.
Is a 22 kW home charger worth it?
Only if you have three-phase supply and a car whose onboard charger takes more than 11 kW on AC. For many two-car homes, two load-managed 7 kW chargers make better use of the supply.
How far are your South Yarra premises from Toorak?
About 1.6 km by road along Toorak Road to the Toorak Village tram stop, and about 2.9 km to the Kooyong Road corner. Every Toorak job is handled from there.
Can the charger go on my front fence or gate pier?
On a heritage street we’d steer you away from it. Stonnington’s EV policy says charging equipment visible from the street may have implications for a heritage streetscape, and some precinct statements, Montalto Avenue’s among them, list period front fences as significant. A side wall or pedestal behind the building line is usually the better spot.
For a Toorak home, the useful first step is a look at the switchboard, the parking and everything in between. Calls to 1300 003 853 are answered 7am to 7pm, every day but Sunday, or you can request a quote through our contact page. Our South Yarra premises also handles EV charger installation in Windsor, and our Victorian registration for the work is REC 35838.