Stonnington Council’s own Electric Vehicle Charging Plan says that South Yarra and Windsor, where lots are small and multi-dwelling developments are common, “are likely to be some of the most common locations in which residents will find it difficult to charge an EV on their property”. That’s the honest starting point for any EV charger installation Windsor residents ask us about. Many homes here can take a charger. Some can’t, and we’d rather tell you before you buy one.
Windsor jobs are run from our South Yarra premises, 128 Toorak Road, about 1.9 km by road from the corner of Chapel and High streets and about 2.9 km from Windsor station. Our A-grade electricians work right across the suburb, including the strip on its western edge that sits in the City of Port Phillip rather than Stonnington.
Five Windsor parking situations
The 2021 Census paints a clear picture. Of Windsor’s occupied homes, 59.5% were flats or apartments, 27.4% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses and townhouses, and 12.6% were separate houses. More than half of all households (53.7%) had one vehicle and 22.4% had none, so most households with a car have just the one to charge. What decides the job is where it spends the night:
- A garage or car space at the back or side of a house or terrace: usually straightforward once the circuit route is worked out.
- A car space off a laneway: the charger goes inside your boundary, and the lane stays as it is.
- A bay in a block of flats or an apartment car park: owners corporation approval first, then the building’s spare capacity.
- A rented home: your rental provider’s agreement comes before anything else.
- Street parking only: no home charger, but there are other routes.
The first four can usually be solved. The fifth needs a different conversation, and we’d rather have it up front than sell you a charger that can’t reach your car.
EV charger installation Windsor on narrow terrace lots
Parts of Windsor are built tight. The Prahran and Windsor Heritage Review (Amendment C331ston), now before an independent panel and not yet in force, proposes precincts that describe the pattern well: the Upton Road Precinct’s rows of Italianate terraces and semi-detached pairs, and the Victorian and Edwardian houses on narrow allotments around Duke and Hornby streets.
A narrow lot leaves little or no room for a car beside the house, so where a terrace has parking, it tends to be at the back. That puts the charger on a rear wall, a garage wall or a post beside the car space, within easy reach of the car’s charge port and with somewhere to hang the cable off the ground.
Getting power there is the main job. If the meter and switchboard are at the front, the new circuit has to cover the length of the house, and a single-fronted terrace may not have a side path to follow. We look at the roof space and the subfloor, pick the neatest route, and show it to you before we quote.
Older terraces can also come with older switchboards. A board without space for the charger’s protection devices, or without modern safety switches, needs attention before an EV circuit goes in, and we scope that alongside the home EV charger installation itself, so the day of the install holds no surprises.
Laneways, crossovers and bluestone
Windsor has its share of laneways. The proposed Hornby Street, Somerset Place, McIlwrick Street and Elm Place Precinct is described by its tight subdivision pattern in residential streets and lanes, and by the bluestone kerb, channelling and paving that survives in some streets and laneways.
If your car space opens onto a lane, we fix the charger inside your boundary, on a garage wall or a post on your side of the property line, and keep the cable clear of the lane surface. The lane, its bluestone and anyone walking or driving through it are left alone.
Creating a brand-new car space at the front of a heritage terrace is harder than many people expect. In a Heritage Overlay, Stonnington lists a new vehicle crossover and driveway among the works that need a planning permit, and its heritage guidelines say to avoid new crossovers where none existed before, to avoid widening a crossover beyond 3 metres, and to put new driveways at the side or rear where possible. If your terrace has no off-street parking today, we’d treat a new front car space as a planning question first and an electrical one second.
When the car lives on the street
This is the hardest Windsor situation, and a longer lead isn’t the answer. A lead run from a front window or porch across a public footpath to a car at the kerb is a trip hazard for everyone walking past, and it isn’t a setup we’d recommend. Burying a supply under a footpath on Council land instead requires Stonnington’s road and footpath opening consent, obtained before any digging starts.
Slow charging from a power point has its own cautions. United Energy, the distributor for Melbourne’s south-east (Windsor itself is on CitiPower), tells EV owners to try to avoid extension leads, never to daisy-chain them, and never to put a household adaptor between the charging equipment and the socket.
For a street-parked car, the realistic options sit away from home:
- Council’s charging plan lists candidate public charging sites in the Chapel Street activity centre at Windsor Village and on Punt Road, Windsor. They’re candidates in a plan, so check whether a charger has actually been installed before relying on one. The plan also suggests higher-powered public chargers may be preferred where most residents lack off-street charging, naming Windsor among those areas.
- Windsor isn’t one of the areas in Stonnington’s kerbside pole-charger trial, which consulted on South Yarra, Armadale, Glen Iris, Toorak, Prahran and Malvern East in late 2025.
- CitiPower, Powercor and United Energy announced a trial of 22 kW chargers on power poles, prioritising locations with strong EV uptake and little off-street parking. We couldn’t find a confirmed Windsor site when we checked in October 2026.
- If your employer has parking, workplace EV charging may cover most of your week.
Interwar flats, new apartments and renters
Windsor’s apartments range from interwar flats to new buildings near the station. The proposed Ellesmere Road Precinct centres on interwar flat buildings, including Conway Court at 245 Dandenong Road, a Streamline Moderne block. Around Windsor Station, state activity centre controls introduced in July 2026 allow three to four storeys in the residential streets within about 800 m, and taller buildings in the commercial core.
In an older block, a charger on your bay usually needs the owners corporation’s approval and a hard look at the building’s spare capacity, because these buildings weren’t designed with EV charging in mind. Load management across the car park is often what turns one possible charger into several. That assessment is part of our EV charging work for flats and strata buildings.
Renting is the norm here: 57.7% of occupied homes were rented in 2021. If you rent, start with your rental provider, because the charger becomes part of their electrical installation, and in a block of flats the owners corporation will want a say as well. We can put the scope in writing so both can see exactly what’s proposed. And while the switchboard door is open, it’s worth knowing that Energy Safe Victoria’s renting guidance says all switchboards must have RCDs fitted.
CitiPower, charging speed and the Port Phillip strip
Windsor 3181 is supplied by CitiPower. Its guide to charging an electric vehicle puts trickle charging from a regular power point at 10 to 15 km of driving range for each hour, and a 7 kW wall charger at 30 to 40 km. For a one-car terrace household, that single-phase 7 kW unit is usually the sweet spot.
One local wrinkle: about 6% of Windsor by area, a strip along its western edge, sits in the City of Port Phillip rather than Stonnington, so heritage and footpath questions there go to that council.
Once the charger is in, the paperwork is simple. We carry out the six mandatory tests Victorian electricians must complete, including earth fault-loop impedance and safety switch operation, then complete a Certificate of Electrical Safety for you. If you want to check who did the work, Energy Safe Victoria’s public register lists licensed electricians and registered contractors.
Frequently asked questions about street parking, renting and councils in Windsor
Could I just run a lead over the footpath to the car?
We’d advise against it. A lead lying across a public footpath is a hazard for pedestrians, and burying a supply under a council footpath needs Stonnington’s consent first. For a street-parked car, public and workplace charging are the realistic options.
Is Windsor part of Stonnington’s kerbside charger trial?
No. The trial areas Council consulted on in late 2025 were South Yarra, Armadale, Glen Iris, Toorak, Prahran and Malvern East. Council’s consultation page listed 2026 for installation but showed no decision when we checked in October 2026.
I rent my terrace. Can I still get a charger installed?
Possibly, with your rental provider’s agreement, because the charger becomes part of their property’s electrical installation. We can set out the proposed work in writing for them to review.
How much range does a 7 kW home charger add per hour?
By CitiPower’s figures, each hour on a 7 kW unit adds about 30 to 40 km, against 10 to 15 km an hour from a regular power point.
Which council looks after my Windsor address?
Most of Windsor is in the City of Stonnington. A strip on the western edge, around Punt Road and Raleigh Street between High Street and St Kilda Junction, is in the City of Port Phillip.
Whether your car sleeps in a rear garage, a basement bay or out on the street, start by telling us where it parks. We’re on 1300 003 853 from 7am to 7pm, Monday to Saturday, or you can send your details through our contact page. We also cover EV charger installation in Toorak from the same South Yarra premises, and every job is done under REC 35838.