The rise that gave Wheelers Hill its name drew motor-car hill climbs as early as 1905, when the district was still farmland. These days the motoring question is how to charge at home, and with two or more vehicles in about two-thirds of households, EV charger installation Wheelers Hill planning often has to allow for a second car as well as the first. The 125 Charman Rd premises in Beaumaris is the closest DUKE base, about 14 km to the south-west in a straight line, and every installation is carried out by A-grade electricians under REC 35838.
EV charger installation Wheelers Hill for two-car households
Wheelers Hill is a suburb of family houses. Separate houses made up 84.9% of occupied dwellings at the 2021 Census, averaging 3.6 bedrooms, and 43.5% of households had two vehicles while another 21.5% had three or more. The average was two vehicles per home, higher than Glen Waverley (1.8) or Mount Waverley (1.9).
Much of the housing is a little newer than in those suburbs, too. Urban development spread east from the Brandon Park shopping centre, which opened in 1970, and the State primary schools followed through the 1970s. A family home from that era may well have had its switchboard modified along the way, and if it has a double garage, placement is easy. So the harder question is often not where to mount a charger but how to feed two of them.
The median age at the 2021 Census was 48, and 47.6% of homes were owned outright. Owners who expect to stay put for years are well served by designing the whole setup once rather than adding to it piece by piece.
At the site visit for a two-car home we check the main switch rating and spare space on the board, the big existing loads such as ducted heating, a pool pump or a spa, the cable route to each parking bay, and the onboard charging limit of each car. A car that accepts only 7 kW on AC gains nothing from a faster wall unit.
Sharing, scheduling or upgrading for the second car
A single-phase 7 kW charger draws about 32 amps for hours at a time. Two of them at once, on top of heating, cooking and hot water, can push a house towards its limits. Before we quote, our electricians calculate the maximum demand. If that figure goes past 100 amps per phase, the Victorian Service and Installation Rules require a limiting device, and very large demands, of 170 amps or more, typically take a house into United Energy’s negotiated connection process.
That calculation points to one of four approaches:
- One charger, two cars. Plug in whichever car is lower each evening. It works when total driving is modest.
- Two chargers with load sharing. The chargers split the available current so the combined draw never exceeds a set limit.
- Solar-first charging. One car charges through the day from the roof, the other overnight.
- A three-phase supply. More headroom for two fast chargers, at the cost of a network application and, usually, new consumer mains.
In our view, many two-EV households are better served by two load-sharing 7 kW chargers than by a three-phase upgrade they may never fully use. When three-phase does make sense, our three-phase power upgrade page explains the network side.
Putting rooftop solar into the car
An unshaded roof is an asset when the car is home during the day. According to Solar Victoria’s guide to getting your home EV-ready, rooftop panels can cut the cost and emissions of charging, sometimes to nothing, but any solar that goes into the car is not there for the evening. A smart charger can be programmed to charge while the panels are generating, and a home battery can hold daytime solar for overnight charging.
United Energy makes a similar point from the network’s side: daytime charging can take advantage of time-of-use tariffs and of renewable energy when there is plenty of it. Its guidance for EV owners on the United Energy network also requires grid-responsive smart chargers to be fitted by a REC and registered on myEnergy.
If you add or upgrade panels as part of the project, the new solar system must meet Victoria’s emergency backstop requirements, which call for a compatible inverter that stays connected to the internet. Our solar EV charger installation work covers the charger, the controls and how they talk to your inverter.
Batteries are part of many of these conversations now. The federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program opened on 1 July 2025, and since 1 May 2026 its support tapers as battery capacity rises, with the rebate set by the installation date rather than the contract date. Bidirectional charging, where the car itself powers the house, is now covered by the inverter standard, but both the car and the charger must support it, so check approved products at the time you buy.
Courts, double garages and garden city rules
The local history record notes that most Wheelers Hill streets were laid out to avoid unnecessary through traffic, which is why so many homes sit on courts and crescents. On a quiet court the car usually lives in the garage or on the driveway, not the street, which keeps the charger on private ground. Beyond the last of the courts, Jells Park runs for about 4 km along the Dandenong Creek valley, with Jells Lake and the Waverley Women’s Sports Centre inside it.
If the second car sleeps on the driveway, we mount its charger on the outside of the garage or on a post beside the bay, with a cable long enough to reach the charge port without crossing a path. A holster keeps the plug off the ground and away from the mower.
Planning rarely comes into a charger on an internal garage wall. Only a handful of Wheelers Hill places carry an individual Heritage Overlay listing in the Monash scheme, among them the Wheelers Hill Hotel and a church hall on Ferntree Gully Road, dwellings on Lum Road, and a gallery site with oak and pine trees on Jells Road. The Museum of Australian Photography and Wheelers Hill Library share a precinct at 860 Ferntree Gully Road. Owners of a listed property need a planning permit only if a street or public park has a view of the charger, and lanes are excepted.
If you are building a new carport for a second car, keep Monash’s neighbourhood character policy in mind: new garages and carports should sit back from the front wall of the house, and driveways should be only as wide as they need to be. Council’s Electrify My Home resources are useful if the charger is one step in a wider move to an all-electric house.
Looking after a charger that is already on the wall
If you were an early adopter, your first charger may now be several years old. Chargers do develop faults. Some stop because their built-in DC leakage protection has detected a problem, which can call for a firmware update or a closer look at the circuit; others have a worn or damaged cable.
United Energy’s safety advice is plain: never use faulty, damaged or modified charging equipment, check the cable for wear, and stop using the charger and contact the manufacturer if you notice a fault. Do not plug a portable charger into a household adaptor or daisy-chained extension leads.
When a charger was installed before 1 May 2023, we also check the safety switch protecting it. Type AC devices have been barred from new work since that date, so any new circuit would be protected by a Type A or Type B device instead. Between visits, press the test button on the safety switch as often as its manufacturer recommends, and check the charging cable for cuts or crushed sections. Under the Australian Consumer Law, a charger bought from an Australian business is covered by consumer guarantees regardless of any separate warranty. Our EV charger repairs and servicing team can diagnose the fault and deal with the manufacturer where needed.
Frequently asked questions on a Wheelers Hill two-car setup
When is a three-phase upgrade worth it for two EVs?
When the maximum demand calculation, or the cars’ AC limits, call for it. Until then, load sharing lets two 7 kW chargers divide whatever a single-phase supply has spare, and many cars do not need a full charge every night.
Can a home battery store solar for overnight charging?
Yes. Solar Victoria notes that a battery can hold daytime solar for charging the car at night. Without one, solar only reaches the car while the sun is up and the car is plugged in.
Do I need council approval for a charger in Wheelers Hill?
A charger fixed inside a garage is electrical work covered by a Certificate of Electrical Safety. A planning permit comes into play if the property is one of the few heritage-listed places and the charger is visible from a street or public park. A new carport or garage built for the car may need its own approvals.
Our charger is a few years old and keeps tripping. What should we do?
Stop using it, note any error code and call us. Tripping can come from the charger’s own DC leakage protection, the circuit’s safety switch or a cable fault, and each needs a different fix.
Should we wait for vehicle-to-home charging before buying a charger?
Not necessarily. Bidirectional charging needs a compatible car and an approved bidirectional charger, and the list of approved products changes, so check it when you buy. A good single-direction charger installed now does not stop you adding a bidirectional unit later if your next car supports it.
Is Wheelers Hill within your service area?
Yes. Our Beaumaris premises at 125 Charman Rd is about 14 km from the centre of Wheelers Hill in a straight line. The suburb is on the United Energy network, so we register your charger through myEnergy.
To plan a two-car setup properly, arrange a site visit on our contact page, or call us on 1300 003 853 (Monday to Saturday, 7am to 7pm). Our EV charger installation Beaumaris page covers the premises we travel from, and over the Dandenong Creek valley, EV charger installation Rowville has its own network quirks.