NSW woke up to headlines accusing electricity network giants of a “power grab”, a plan to add up to $10 million a year to everyone’s power bill, EV owners and non-EV owners alike, to fund a rollout of poles-and-wires chargers. It’s sparked real outrage, and rightly so. But buried in the backlash is a question worth asking: if monopoly-funded charging is the problem, what does the alternative actually look like?
We’re EVX, and we’ve been building that alternative for years. Funded privately, built locally, and costing the average power bill exactly nothing. Here’s what the media got right, what it means for you, and why not all EV chargers are created equal.
Not all chargers are built the same way
The story centres on a proposal by Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy and Essential Energy to install more EV chargers on power poles, and recover the cost from every electricity customer in NSW, whether they own an EV or not. Councils, retailers, consumer advocates and private charging operators have all pushed back, warning it could flood streets with chargers that are slow, poorly located, and effectively compulsory-funded by people who’ll never use them.
We want to be upfront about something: if you’ve seen a photo of an EVX charger running next to this coverage, it was used to illustrate EV charging generally, it does not represent the network-funded model these stories are about.
Locally owned. Locally made.
EVX is a privately owned Australian company. Our chargers are designed and manufactured in Sydney, and every installation supports local jobs. We’re not a subsidiary spun out of a network monopoly, and we don’t fund our growth through a levy on households that will never plug in.
No hidden cost on your power bill
This is the core of today’s story: infrastructure costs being quietly added to bills for people who get no benefit from them. That’s not how EVX operates. Our network is funded privately, not through a charge on the broader customer base, so our growth doesn’t come at your expense.
Delivering, not just debating
While the networks and regulators argue over policy, EVX has kept building, with 436 sockets deployed across NSW and VIC. Despite the headwinds in this market, we’re accelerating, proof that the private model works without needing to be subsidised by non-users.
Better chargers, better experience
The news story points out that some network-installed chargers are slow, poorly sited, and lack dedicated parking. EVX Polechargers are purpose-built to avoid exactly those problems. Each unit is a dual-port 22kW charger, so two drivers can charge at once from a single pole, and installation takes around three hours, using existing power infrastructure rather than requiring new civil works. Chargers are built to handle Australian conditions and everyday wear, and every charger runs on 100% renewable energy.
Behind the scenes, our network is monitored 24/7, with more than 99% of issues resolved remotely and industry-leading uptime. That’s not an accident, it’s what competition does. It’s also exactly what’s at risk if monopoly-funded rollouts are allowed to push private operators out of the market.
An industry working together, not a monopoly working alone
EVX is one of a number of private operators, councils and industry voices raising the same concerns: collaborating, not competing, to make sure Australia’s EV charging network is built well, not just built fast.
Find your nearest EVX charger here.
