The electric vehicle chargers that made Western Australia an early mover on EVs are showing their age, and the State Government says it is up to local councils and private business, not taxpayers at the state level, to keep them going.
Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson has told councils along the South West's original "electric highway" that the Government only set out to build the backbone of the network, and that maintaining it is now their job. Her comments, reported by ABC South West on 29 October 2026, come as at least one shire weighs a six-figure bill for a single charger.
A $120,000 problem in Harvey
The Shire of Harvey, about 140 kilometres south of Perth, has the town's only public charging station, and it no longer works properly. The unit went in during 2015, and the shire has been told replacing and upgrading it could cost anywhere from $50,000 to $120,000.
For now the shire has opted for a stopgap: a repair costing about $4,000 rather than pulling the charger out, while it works out what to do longer term.
Deputy Shire President Craig Carbone said the upkeep was beyond what local government should be expected to carry, and warned against a pattern of the State coming up with an idea and councils being left with the cost.
Harvey caravan park manager James Corby wants the charger to stay, saying a visible charging spot makes the town more attractive to passing motorists. But he believes the State should be paying for it.
"It shouldn't be the responsibility of local government, or local businesses." — James Corby, Harvey caravan park manager
What the minister says
Ms Sanderson said the Government had done "much of the heavy lifting" and wanted others to share the load.
"We need the private sector and local government to step up and support the network." — Amber-Jade Sanderson, Energy Minister
She argued that councils already provide a wide range of services to their communities, and that giving ratepayers somewhere to charge an EV fits within that.
According to the ABC, the State put more than $23 million into the network as part of a $43 million package of EV infrastructure subsidies.
How the network got here
The South West electric highway launched in 2015 with plenty of fanfare, eventually stretching from Monkey Mia in the north to Esperance in the south-east. Insurer RAC was involved for a decade before pulling out last year, leaving councils and private operators to manage and maintain the stations.
Since then the picture has become patchy. Some chargers have closed, while others have been taken over by private companies. In Busselton and Dunsborough, the council removed its foreshore chargers, with private operators opening new ones at local shopping centres. The original RAC charger in Bridgetown is now privately run.
Demand, meanwhile, has exploded. When the first chargers were switched on in 2015 there were about 150 licensed EVs in WA. By June this year there were more than 60,000. Travellers in the state's north have also complained of faulty chargers and a network that can't keep up.
The Australian Electric Vehicle Association's WA spokesman, Ant Day, said more needed to be done to keep charging available in smaller towns like Harvey.
Why it matters to Perth drivers
For the tens of thousands of EV owners in Perth, the South West is the obvious weekend road trip, and reliable chargers in towns like Harvey are what make that trip easy. If small shires decide the cost isn't worth it, the gaps between working chargers will grow.
The bigger question is who pays. The State says it built the spine and councils should do the rest; councils say they're being handed another bill they didn't ask for. With EV numbers still climbing, that argument is likely to land on more council agendas over the coming year.
Photo: JarrahTree via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.5 AU). File photo of an RAC Electric Highway charging point, not the Harvey charger.
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