EV Charging Feasibility Study for Sydney Strata Buildings: Where to Start

If your strata committee is fielding requests from residents about EV charging, one of the first questions is usually: where do we even begin?

The answer for most Sydney apartment buildings is a feasibility study.

Before committing to any infrastructure, a structured assessment of your building’s electrical capacity, car park layout and resident demand gives your owners corporation the information it needs to make a confident, informed decision.

Without it, you risk oversizing a system the building doesn’t need, undersizing one that won’t scale, or spending money on infrastructure the electrical supply can’t actually support.

Do You Always Need a Feasibility Study?

Not always.

For a newer Sydney apartment building with a modern switchboard, documented spare electrical capacity and a small number of residents requesting chargers, it may be straightforward to proceed directly to a site assessment and quote.

A full feasibility study is most valuable when:

• The building’s electrical capacity is unknown or constrained
• Multiple residents want to charge simultaneously
• The car park layout is complex or has long cable routes from the main switchboard
• The owners corporation needs a documented report to table at an AGM
• The project involves a large number of bays or a staged rollout
• There is uncertainty about whether AC, DC or hybrid charging is the right fit

If your building is a large complex, has an older electrical infrastructure or needs the OC to vote on a budget commitment, a feasibility study is the right starting point.

What Does a Feasibility Study Cover?

A feasibility study is not a ballpark quote. It is an engineering-led assessment that documents what your building can support, what infrastructure is required and what each option would cost.

Our process has three stages.

Stage 1: Site visit and electrical data collection

We visit the building to document the existing electrical infrastructure, including the main switchboard, car park distribution boards, available spare capacity and current circuit protection equipment.

We also deploy on-site data logging instruments to collect actual electrical usage data from common power boards and car park boards at peak and off-peak times, typically over 7 to 14 days.

This step matters. Many feasibility studies estimate capacity from the switchboard rating alone. Actual usage data consistently shows that real available headroom is 30 to 50 per cent lower than theoretical estimates, particularly in older Sydney buildings across suburbs like Pyrmont, Glebe, Newtown and Surry Hills.

Stage 2: Resident and building manager consultation

We meet with your building manager and, where possible, the owners corporation to understand:

• How many residents currently drive an EV or plan to within the next two to three years
• Whether residents prefer charging at their own bay or are comfortable with shared charging
• Budget expectations and whether a phased rollout is preferred
• Any by-law or building management constraints

This calibrates the infrastructure recommendation to actual demand rather than worst-case theoretical demand, which typically reduces the recommended scope and cost significantly.

Stage 3: EV feasibility report

We deliver a written report covering:

• Current electrical capacity assessment with data logging results
• Recommended infrastructure pathway: AC (Level 1 backbone), AC per-bay (Level 2), DC shared charging, or a staged combination
• Load management requirements and options
• Fixed cost estimates for each infrastructure option
• A staged implementation approach where the full scope needs to be phased
• Compliance and strata approval requirements

The report is written to be tabled at a committee meeting or AGM. It includes the information lot owners typically ask about: cost per lot, how electricity billing works, who pays for what and what happens when a new lot owner wants to add a charger later.

What Questions Does a Feasibility Study Answer?

A well-prepared feasibility report answers the questions that typically come up at strata committee meetings and AGMs:

• Does our building have enough electrical capacity for EV charging?
• How many chargers can we install without upgrading the mains supply?
• What infrastructure does the building need before individual chargers can be added?
• Is AC or DC charging more appropriate for our building?
• What will it cost, and what are the options at different budget levels?
• How will residents be billed for their electricity use?
• Can the system be expanded as more residents buy EVs?
• What does the approval process look like under the Strata Schemes Management Act?

Common Findings in Sydney Strata Feasibility Studies

Across the Sydney buildings we have assessed, a few patterns appear consistently.

Available capacity is lower than the switchboard suggests. Older buildings, particularly those built before the 1990s, often have common electrical infrastructure that is already heavily loaded. The data logging step routinely reveals available capacity for EV charging is significantly lower than a theoretical assessment would indicate.

Load management changes the picture. Many buildings that appear to have insufficient capacity for multiple chargers can support them once a dynamic load management system is factored in. Load management monitors overall building demand and distributes available capacity across chargers dynamically, without requiring a mains supply upgrade.

A Level 1 backbone is usually the right first step. For most buildings at current EV adoption rates, installing the full electrical backbone without committing to per-bay chargers at every space is the most practical starting point. Residents who want to charge can connect immediately. Future additions are low-cost connections to the existing infrastructure.

How Much Does a Feasibility Study Cost?

Feasibility study cost depends on building size and complexity.

Factors that affect the cost include:

• Number of apartments and parking bays
• Number of car park levels
• Complexity of the existing electrical infrastructure
• Duration of on-site data logging required
• Number of site visits needed

The feasibility study cost is fixed and does not depend on whether you proceed with installation.

If you proceed with Sydney EV Chargers for the installation, the study cost is credited against the installation quote.

What Happens After the Feasibility Study?

The report gives your owners corporation a clear picture of the options, costs and recommended pathway. From there, the process typically runs as follows.

1. Present to the strata committee or AGM. We can attend your meeting to present the report, walk lot owners through the options and answer technical questions. We understand the requirements under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 for common property works.
2. Obtain a fixed-price installation quote. Once the committee has approved a direction, we provide a fixed-price quote covering all infrastructure, installation labour, load management, metering and compliance documentation.
3. Proceed to installation. Our licensed electricians complete the work with full cable management, conduit, load management configuration and metering setup.
4. Commission and hand over. All infrastructure is tested and the building manager receives full documentation covering equipment operation, maintenance requirements and warranty terms.

EV Charging Feasibility in Sydney Apartment Buildings

Many Sydney apartment buildings present specific challenges that make a feasibility study particularly valuable.

Underground car parks, common in buildings across the CBD, Inner West and Eastern Suburbs, often have long cable routes from the main switchboard to car park distribution boards. These cable runs affect both infrastructure cost and the practical number of chargers the existing supply can support.

Buildings constructed before the 1990s frequently have fuse-based or undersized switchboards with limited spare capacity. The data logging stage confirms what is actually available rather than relying on panel ratings that may be years out of date.

Mixed-use buildings with ground-floor retail or commercial tenancies have more complex electrical load profiles. A feasibility study captures the commercial load alongside the residential load to give an accurate picture of available capacity across different times of day.

Planning EV Charging for Your Sydney Strata Building?

Sydney EV Chargers conducts EV charging feasibility studies for apartment buildings, strata complexes and managed car parks across Sydney.

We can assess your building’s:

• Existing electrical capacity and available headroom
• Car park layout and cable routing options
• Current and projected EV charging demand
• AC, DC or hybrid infrastructure options
• Load management requirements
• Metering and billing approach
• Staged rollout options if full-scope installation needs to be phased

Call 1300 905 641 or contact Sydney EV Chargers to arrange a strata EV charging feasibility assessment.

The right EV charging system starts with understanding the building, not choosing a charger.

Further Reading

• EV Charging for Strata Buildings Sydney — our full strata EV charging service page
• Level 1 EV Charging Infrastructure for Strata Buildings
• Level 2 AC EV Charging for Strata Apartments