National EV Charging Roadmap Launched with ARENA Backing

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has committed $1.06 million to fund a new National Electric Vehicle Charging Roadmap, backing a $1.43 million initiative led by the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) to guide charging infrastructure rollouts across the country out to 2035.

Announced this week, the comprehensive blueprint aims to give car makers, network operators, charging companies, fleet managers and governments a unified forecast of where charging bottlenecks and high-demand corridors will emerge. The analysis covers both passenger electric cars and heavy commercial vehicles across metropolitan and regional routes.

Closing the infrastructure gap

The initiative comes as electric vehicle adoption reaches new highs nationwide, with battery-electric cars commanding roughly a quarter of all new-vehicle deliveries in recent months. However, motoring and fleet organisations have repeatedly cautioned that public charging infrastructure is struggling to keep pace with showroom sales.

By uniting electricity network operators, motoring groups and charging networks under a coordinated model, the project seeks to pinpoint high-priority locations for grid upgrades and charging plazas before local systems come under excessive pressure. The framework will also assess peak travel corridors ahead of holiday periods, helping to alleviate range anxiety and wait times at regional fast chargers.

What this means for your novated lease

For anyone considering salary packaging an electric vehicle, a more coordinated national charging network removes one of the biggest remaining hurdles to going electric.

• Greater confidence away from home: If you lack off-street parking or rent an apartment, reliable neighbourhood and highway charging makes running an EV via a novated lease far more practical day to day.
• Lower total travel expenses: Novated leases let you package public charging subscriptions and charging costs using pre-tax income, multiplying the financial advantages of electric motoring when reliable public chargers are readily available.
• Strengthened resale and lease residuals: Expanding national infrastructure supports long-term buyer confidence in electric cars, reinforcing used-EV values when your lease term concludes.
• Long-distance road trips become simpler: Coordinated planning on major travel routes means fewer queues and better hardware reliability when heading regional for holidays.

*General information only, not financial or tax advice.*