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Grants to build public fast EV charging stations at dealerships and EV repairers
DRIVEN Charger Grant Stream
Closing date: Friday 28 August 2026 5:00pm AEST Fri 28 Aug 2026 5:00pm AEST
What do you get?
Grants of up to $8 million.
Who is this for?
Organisations building public fast EV charging stations at automotive dealerships or EV repairer sites.
About the program
The DRIVEN Charger Grant Stream grant opportunity makes $20 million available for the installation of new, public, fast EV charging stations at automotive dealership and EV repairer premises and, in turn, bolsters Australia’s public fast charger network.
The objectives of the DRIVEN Charger Grant Stream are to:
- deliver charging stations at automotive dealership and EV repairer premises
- encourage installation of charging stations in regional areas of Australia
- support automotive dealerships and EV repairers looking to host charging stations
- facilitate partnerships between Australian automotive dealerships or EV repairers and EV charging businesses (e.g. Charge Point Operators).
Register of interested site hosts
To assist potential applicants, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) will facilitate a registration of interest process for potential site hosts (dealerships and EV repairers) interested in hosting charging stations.
This register is intended to support partnership development and help applicants identify suitable sites for their projects.
Use of the register is not mandatory and applicants may still identify suitable sites and site hosts not contained in the register.
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Access the DRIVEN Public EV Charging - Site Host Registration of Interest.
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
Information sessions
Learn more about the DRIVEN Charger Grant Stream by registering for one of our upcoming information sessions:
Date: Tuesday, 23 June 2026
Time: 1:30 pm - 2:15 pm AEST
Location: Online via Teams
Who should attend: Automotive Dealerships, Service Centres and EV Repairers, Charge Point Operators, Business Groups, Local Councils or anyone interested in installing public EV charging
Register for the 23 June 2026 session
Date: Thursday, 9 July 2026
Time:1:30 pm - 2:15 pm AEST
Location: Online via Teams
Who should attend: Automotive Dealerships, Service Centres and EV Repairers, Charge Point Operators, Business Groups, Local Councils or anyone interested in installing public EV charging
Check if you can apply
You can apply if you meet the eligibility criteria. The eligibility criteria are a set of rules that describe who we can consider for this grant. You can apply if you:
- are an eligible entity
- have an eligible project
- have eligible expenditure.
The rules are in the grant opportunity guidelines.
You can apply if you:
- have an Australian business number (ABN)
- have an account with an Australian financial institution
- are an entity, incorporated in Australia.
You can’t apply if you are:
- an organisation, or your project partner is an organisation, included on the National Redress Scheme’s list of Institutions that have not joined or signified their intent to join the Scheme
- an employer of 100 or more employees that has not complied with the Workplace Gender Equality Act (2012)
- a Regional Development Australia Committee
- a non-corporate Commonwealth entity.
Partner with other organisations
You can partner with one or more other organisations that also meet the eligibility criteria. But you must decide who the lead organisation is.
The lead organisation must fill out the application form.
If we give your group the grant, the lead organisation:
- signs the grant agreement
- is responsible for making sure your group follows the rules in the grant agreement.
You must complete your project by 31 March 2029.
Your project must:
- support preparation, construction and installation of charging stations at automotive dealership and EV repairer premises in metro, regional and journey enablement areas as identified in the EVCI Mapping Tool
- meet the Minimum Operating Standards (MoS) for government-funded charging stations and minimum project delivery requirements
- include charging station(s) with at least one Combined Charging System (CCS) Type 2 plug for each charging bay
- include a minimum of 25 charging bays.
The eligible charging stations must be installed at a site that is a dealership or EV repairer premises.
Dealership or EV repairer premises means:
- a place of business of a dealership or EV repairer; and/or
- any land that:
- is directly adjacent to or across a road from that place of business of a dealership or EV repairer; and
- the dealership or EV repairer has the necessary right or consent to install charging stations on.
Each eligible organisation can only receive one grant under the DRIVEN Charger Grant Stream (as determined by the organisations ABN). If you submit more than one application under the same ABN, only the application submitted closest to the application closing date will be considered for funding.
The maximum grant amount is $8 million.
The grant amount will be dependent on the zone in which the proposed stations are located, up to 80% of total eligible project expenditure. These zones are based on the EVCI Mapping Tool current at the time of your application.
The level of grant funding support available under the DRIVEN Charger Grant Stream is:
- for metropolitan zones: up to 50% of eligible expenditure per charging station
- for regional and journey enablement zones: up to 80% of eligible expenditure per charging station.
Grant funding must only be used for eligible expenditure directly related to the delivery of charging stations at an eligible site.
Eligible expenditure items include:
- EV supply equipment such as charging stations, including cables, charging plug(s) and port(s)
- associated civil works (e.g. charging bays, trenching, bollards, signage, lane markings)
- electricity network connections specific to the project site (including associated network upgrades)
- installation activities
- on-site battery.
How to apply
Check if you’re ready to apply for a grant
Finding a suitable grant opportunity is just the start of the process to get funding. The application process can take time and effort. Understanding the entire process will help you be grant ready and may improve your chances of getting funding.
Use our checklist to find out what it takes to apply for a grant.
When you're ready to apply
When the online form is available, you'll need to apply using our online portal:
- Create or log into your portal account.
- Follow the instructions to complete your application.
- Submit your application before the close date.
Make sure you include enough detail and supporting evidence in your application to help us decide whether to award you the grant.
Don’t submit the application until it’s complete. You can’t correct a mistake.
First we check that you meet the eligibility criteria. Then we assess your application against the assessment criteria.
The assessment criteria are a set of rules that describe how we must assess each application.
We give each criterion a certain number of points.
We’ll decide whether to award you the grant based on the total number of points we give your application.
- Assessment criterion 1: Organisational capability and capacity to deliver the project (20 points)
- Assessment criterion 2: Charging station design and project delivery (30 points)
- Assessment criterion 3: Proposed charging station location(s) (30 points)
- Assessment criterion 4: Cost and value for money offered by the project (20 points)
The amount of detail and supporting evidence you provide should be relative to the project size, complexity and grant amount requested.
We will only award funding to applications that score at least 50% against each assessment criterion.
A senior executive officer within DCCEEW makes the final decision.
Apply now
Apply for DRIVEN Charger Grant Stream now.
Before you apply, make sure you:
- read and understand the grant opportunity guidelines.
Sample applications
The best way to understand what information you need to provide is to start an application. We have also provided a version to download at the bottom of this page.
Technical help
See our customer portal's frequently asked questions to help with your queries. If you can't find your answer, contact us for assistance.
If you submit your application before the close date you can retrieve it any time to make changes. But you must submit it again before the close date.
We can’t consider the application you submit after the close date under any circumstances.
Past rounds
Contact
Need help?
Let us answer your question over the phone, email or live chat.
- Phone:
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Open Hours:
Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm across Australia
- Website:
Further guidance
The department will update FAQs regularly to clarify program requirements and to ensure all applicants have the same information.
What value of grants are available and when do projects need to be completed?
Grants of up to $8,000,000 per application are available, with projects to be completed by 31 March 2029.
Are only automotive dealers and EV repairers eligible to apply?
No. An applicant can be outside the automotive sector provided they satisfy the eligibility criteria as described in section 4 of the grant opportunity guidelines (the guidelines).
Applicants could include:
- dealership groups
- vehicle manufacturers
- charge point operators
- business or community groups.
Is the minimum of 25 charging bays per site or per application?
The minimum of 25 charging bays applies to your whole application which may include multiple proposed sites.
Where do the public charging units need to be installed?
All public EV charging units need to be installed at a dealership or EV repairer premises. For further details see section 5.2 of the guidelines.
The merit of your application will partly be determined by the proposed site’s(s’) proximity to the relevant areas as defined by, and identified on the EVCI Mapping Tool (metro, regional and Journey Enablement zones). For further details, see section 3.1 of the guidelines.
Are there restrictions on joint or consortia applications?
Organisations may partner together to deliver a project, provided an eligible lead organisation is appointed to submit the application and enter into grant agreement negotiations. For further details, see section 7.2 of the guidelines.
Will there be future funding rounds like the DRIVEN Charger Rebate Stream?
No. Only one funding round will be available for the DRIVEN Charger Grant Stream with the portal closing for applications 5pm AEST, Friday 28 August 2026.
What are the technical charging station requirements?
The minimum technical requirements can be found in Appendix C of the guidelines.
Can the co-funding go towards covering the cost of on-site batteries or renewable energy generation sources?
On-site batteries are considered eligible expenditure if installed for the purpose of directly supporting the charging infrastructure. However, renewable energy generation equipment is not. For further details on eligible expenditure, see section 5.3 of the guidelines.
Do site hosts need to register their interest for their sites to be included in an application?
No. Registration of a site host’s interest in hosting public EV fast charging stations is not mandatory and will not impact site eligibility.
What are the charging station uptime requirements?
Once commissioned, each charging plug should have at least 98% annual uptime, calculated per the Minimum operating standards for government-supported public electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Once commissioned, uptime data for all charging units must provided through the Charge@Large platform.
Key documents
Accountant declaration template
docx · 0.06 MB