Australian EV charging company receives funding boost for new chargers in apartment complexes
An Australian electric vehicle charging company has received a major funding boost to accelerate the rollout of a new charging scheme for millions of Australians living in apartments.
Sydney-based ReadySteadyPlug has secured $1.51 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) which will enable the installation of more than 400 EV charging points in residential apartments and strata complexes across the country as part of its Charging as a Service initiative.
The program uses standard electrical outlets and smartphone access to charge vehicles and allows residents to choose; This means users will be billed individually and tenants without electric vehicles will not have to pay for the cost of electricity or the operation of their chargers. Owner companies are also reimbursed quarterly for the electricity used during this period.
ReadySteadyPlug CEO Jukka Sintonen said the funding would help encourage more of the 4.2 million Australians living in strata complexes. According to Strata Community FoundationInvesting in an electric vehicle.
“We know that lack of access to home charging infrastructure can be a major barrier to electric vehicle uptake for millions of Australians living in apartments,” he said.
“If they (residents) have a charging point outside the street then it makes it a lot easier and the convenience factor is almost immeasurable.
“Funding from ARENA is now really helping to popularize (spread) this model.”
According to ReadySteadyPlug, a single 10-hour overnight charge provides 200 kilometers of range for the user’s vehicle. Mr Sintonen added that the highest uptake in the program so far had been in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
ReadySteadyPlug chief technology officer Dean Eislers said there had been “an increase in demand from strata complexes” for the initiative, which is managed under ARENA’s Driving the Nation program.
ARENA chief executive Darren Miller said the agency’s support, which brings total funding for the ReadySteadyPlug rollout to just under $3.5 million, will help close a critical gap in the country’s EV charging network and the transition to renewable transport options.
“ARENA’s funding will help meet this challenge by demonstrating solutions that reduce the cost and complexity of EV charger installation,” he said.
The announcement comes after electric vehicle sales reached record levels in response to a rise in fuel prices caused by the ongoing Middle East war.
Nearly 16,000 electric vehicles were sold in the Australian market last month, accounting for 14.6 per cent of all vehicle sales, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. This is an increase over last year’s figures; EVs account for 7.5 percent of sales in March 2025.
Accordingly federal governmentThere are more than 500,000 electric vehicles on the road in Australia.
