The federal energy department says the Electric Vehicle Council is leading a $1.43 million project to map charging demand and investment priorities for passenger and heavy vehicles through 2035. The roadmap is planned for mid-2027, so it is a planning exercise rather than a new charger rollout.
ARENA is contributing $1.06 million through its Driving the Nation Program, with the EVC and project partners covering the balance. The Department says work will identify EV demand, network pressure points and investment priorities for cars, trucks and buses.
That matters because freight and passenger charging share sites, grid capacity and investment. A national evidence base could help governments and providers coordinate, but no new sites or charger commitments by state were named.
The roadmap is expected in mid-2027. Until then, apartment residents, regional travellers and fleet managers still need to check current network maps and live station status for their own routes; this project does not make a currently unavailable charger usable or change existing tariffs.
The practical question to watch is whether the final plan publishes location-level priorities and shows how its scenarios account for different vehicle types. The official project description says the roadmap will be a shared planning tool, not a fixed prediction, so its recommendations should be read as priorities and scenarios rather than guaranteed construction dates.
Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water : project announcement (19 October 2026) · ARENA : National EV Charging Roadmap project details