Survey Identifies Capital and Skills Barriers to Strata EV Charging
As NSW introduces Right to Charge legislation for apartment buildings, Schneider Electric's 2026 Energy Tech Pulse Survey highlights capital costs and skills shortages as key infrastructure hurdles.
Harry Taruva 
Sydney — Proposed legislative changes in New South Wales aimed at streamlining electric vehicle (EV) charger installations in residential apartment buildings face ongoing operational hurdles, according to research published by energy management provider Schneider Electric.
The state’s draft "Right to Charge" reforms, currently before the New South Wales (NSW) Legislative Council, seek to simplify approval pathways for strata owners and residents, preventing strata committees from unreasonably blocking residential charger installations as EV ownership in Australia surpasses 410,000 units.
Schneider Electric's 2026 Energy Tech Pulse Survey however indicates that regulatory relaxation alone will not resolve underlying deployment challenges.
The survey reveals that 56 percent of business and property leaders view upfront capital costs as the primary barrier to adopting clean energy infrastructure, while 33 percent cite internal skills shortages and 30 percent point to technical and permitting complexities.
Technical experts caution that uncoordinated, piecemeal charger installations risk overloading legacy electrical networks in older apartment buildings, potentially disrupting essential building systems such as elevators and central air conditioning.
Tim Pratt, Vice President for Power Products (Pacific Zone) at Schneider Electric, noted that removing administrative barriers must be coupled with systematic, long-term electrical capacity planning.
"The reforms are a positive step because they remove a significant barrier for apartment residents who want to charge at home," Pratt stated.
"But the right to install a charger is only part of the equation. Safe, efficient and future-proofed charging depends on the right infrastructure and the right expertise.
"We cannot approach apartment EV charging as a series of one-off installations," he said.
Industry partners advocate for the integration of dynamic load management systems and busway electrical distribution architectures to allow residential buildings to scale charging points safely as demand increases.
