Charging an EV at home
ActewAGL's evEnergy Saver charges 12c/kWh between midnight and 6am, every day, plus two free hours each weekend afternoon.
The tariff does more work than the charger.
ActewAGL's evEnergy Saver plan charges 12c/kWh between 12am and 6am AEST, seven days a week. It also includes two free hours on both Saturday and Sunday, between noon and 2pm, for electricity imported from the grid — controlled load is excluded. To be on the plan you need an electric vehicle and a smart meter; ActewAGL will upgrade the meter at no cost if you do not already have one. Choosing when you charge changes the running cost far more than choosing which wallbox you buy.
Most households do not need the fastest charger.
A 7kW single-phase wallbox adds roughly 40 kilometres of range an hour, which fills almost any commuting gap across a six-hour overnight window. A 22kW three-phase unit charges faster but needs three-phase supply, which many Canberra homes do not have and which is expensive to install. The question is not how fast the charger is, but whether it can complete the day's charge inside the cheap window — and for typical driving, 7kW does.
What your driving would cost to charge
evEnergy Saver
What your driving costs to charge overnight
- Electricity used
- 40.0 kWh/wk
- Cost per 100km, overnight
- $2
- Difference over a year
- $478
Charging inside the midnight-to-6am window is what earns this. A car plugged in at 6pm and left alone will charge at whatever rate applies then — set the schedule in the car as well as the charger.
evEnergy Saver charges 12c/kWh from 12am to 6am AEST daily, with two free hours on Saturdays and Sundays between noon and 2pm for grid-imported electricity, excluding controlled load. The plan needs an EV and a smart meter. Plan details
Solar changes the arithmetic again.
If you have panels and are home during the day, charging on your own generation costs less than any tariff, because the alternative is exporting it for a small feed-in payment. Some chargers can follow available solar output and modulate to match, which avoids drawing from the grid when a cloud passes. That feature is worth paying for if the car is home during daylight, and worth nothing if it is not.
Getting set up
- Check your meterThe plan requires a smart meter. If you have an older accumulation meter, ActewAGL will replace it at no cost, but it takes scheduling — start there.
- Get an electrician to assess the switchboardA dedicated circuit is needed, and older boards sometimes need work before one can be added. This is the part of the job that most often surprises people on cost.
- Pick the charger for your supply, not the spec sheetSingle-phase homes cannot use a 22kW unit. Confirm what supply you have before choosing.
- Set the car, not just the chargerMost EVs can schedule their own charging. Setting the window in the car as well as the charger avoids the two disagreeing and charging at the expensive time.
Frequently asked questions
12c/kWh between 12am and 6am AEST, every day of the week. There is also a free charging window of two hours on Saturdays and on Sundays, between noon and 2pm, for grid-imported electricity excluding controlled load. Rates outside those windows and the daily supply charge are set out in ActewAGL's pricing information.
Yes. Time-of-use pricing needs interval metering to know when you used what. ActewAGL will upgrade the meter at no cost if you do not already have one.
For most homes, no. It requires three-phase supply, which many Canberra properties do not have and which is costly to bring in. A 7kW unit adds around 40km of range an hour, so a six-hour overnight window covers about 240km — more than most people drive in a day.
For occasional charging, yes, but a standard power point delivers around 2kW, which is roughly 10–15km of range an hour. That is fine for a plug-in hybrid or a low-mileage week and frustrating for anything else. It also puts a sustained load on a circuit that was not designed for it, which is worth an electrician's opinion.
Apartment and on-street parking is the genuine gap. Some strata schemes will approve a dedicated circuit to a car space, and public charging fills the rest. The advantages described here assume a home connection, so the economics differ if you rely on public infrastructure.
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