The 5 Best Free EV Chargers in Melbourne (Updated for 2026)
Melbourne has something Sydney does not: free DC fast charging that anyone can walk up and use.
That is not marketing. Sydney's free charger list is almost entirely 7kW to 22kW AC, the kind of thing you use while you do a shop. Melbourne has multiple public sites running 44kW, 50kW and even 80kW DC at no cost, largely because inner north councils and Chargefox went in early and hard on public infrastructure.
We went through every charger in our Melbourne database, filtered for free, then threw out anything you cannot actually turn up and use. No staff-only bays. No hotel guest chargers. No "free for the first 7kWh" marketing.
These five are the real ones.
First, what "free" actually means
Four different things get called free in Australia, and only one is the real deal.
Genuinely free. The electricity costs nothing. You still need the operator's app to start the session, because almost no Australian charger lets you just plug in and go. Free power, not free of admin.
Free with a daily quota. Jolt is the big one. You get 7kWh a day free, roughly 45km of range, then you pay per kWh, plus a small service fee on every session. Useful if you live near one. It is an allowance, not a free charger.
Free but time-capped. Increasingly common in Melbourne. The session is free but cuts off at one hour, or three. Fine if you know before you arrive.
Free power, paid parking. The charger costs nothing. The car park costs plenty. This is what catches people out.
Everything in our top five is genuinely free. Where there is a time cap or a parking cost, we have said so.
One tip before you go. Buy a single $5 Evie Pass and register it inside the Chargefox and Exploren apps. One card, every network, and it works when your phone is flat or there is no signal in a basement car park. You do not need a card per network.
1. Edward Street, Brunswick
15 Edward Street, Brunswick VIC 3056 Operator: Chargefox | 4 plugs | up to 80kW DC (CCS2) and 7kW AC Open in Google maps
The best free charger in Melbourne, and it is not close.
Four plugs, listed as fully public access with no membership gate, no cost, and DC fast charging up to 80kW. Eighty kilowatts free is genuinely unusual. That is roughly 250 to 300km of range in half an hour on a car that can take it, which turns this from a top up into an actual fast charge.
It is just off Sydney Road in the heart of Brunswick, a short walk from Barkly Square and the full run of Sydney Road cafes, bars and food. If you are going to be stuck somewhere for 30 minutes, Brunswick is a good place to be stuck.
The mixed configuration is worth understanding. Four plugs at "7kW and 80kW" means you are not getting 80kW on every plug. Expect a couple of fast DC bays and a couple of slower AC ones. Check the Chargefox app for which specific plug is free before you commit to the drive.
How to start a session: Chargefox app with a credit or debit card linked, or tap a Chargefox RFID card (about $9.90 in the app) or a registered Evie Pass. You need a card on file even when using RFID.
2. Merri-bek Civic Centre, Coburg
90 Bell Street, Coburg VIC 3058 Operator: Chargefox | 4 plugs | 22kW AC, plus 50kW DC (CCS2 and CHAdeMO) Open in Google maps
Four free plugs at the Merri-bek City Council civic centre on Bell Street, listed as fully public with no membership requirement.
The mix is the appeal. You get 50kW DC with both CCS2 and CHAdeMO, which matters if you drive an older Leaf or Outlander PHEV and keep finding CHAdeMO has quietly disappeared from newer sites. Alongside that there are 22kW AC bays for a longer stay.
Being a council site, this is about as close to a permanent free charger as you get. Councils install these as a public service rather than a business, so they tend not to flip to paid the moment demand picks up.
Pentridge Shopping Centre and its cinema, IGA and eateries are a few minutes north, and Coburg station and the Sydney Road strip are close by.
One thing to watch: Merri-bek council has a reputation in public reviews for aggressive parking enforcement around this area. Read the signage on the bay itself, not just the charger.
How to start a session: Chargefox app, RFID card, or a registered third party card such as an Evie Pass.
3. Lower Heidelberg Road, Heidelberg
451 Lower Heidelberg Road, Heidelberg VIC 3084 Operator: Chargefox | 16 plugs | 7kW AC and 44kW DC Open in Google maps
Sixteen plugs. That is not a typo, and it is by a wide margin the largest free charging site in our entire Australian dataset.
The single most common way a free charger fails you is that every bay is occupied when you arrive. At sixteen plugs, that essentially stops being a risk. If you want a free charge and you want to be confident you will actually get one, this is the site.
The configuration is a mix of 7kW AC and 44kW DC. Our data records the plug count and the two power ratings but not how they split, so check the Chargefox app to see what is actually available before you drive out. Realistically, expect most of the sixteen to be the slower AC bays with a smaller number of 44kW DC.
It sits in Heidelberg near the Warringal Shopping Centre and Burgundy Street precinct, which has Coles, Aldi, butchers and several cafes.
How to start a session: Chargefox app or RFID. This one is listed as membership required, so set up your account before you arrive rather than in the car park.
4. Princes Highway, Werribee
45 Princes Highway, Werribee VIC 3030 Operator: Chargefox | 4 plugs | 50kW DC (CCS2 and CHAdeMO) Open in Google maps
Four bays of free 50kW DC fast charging in Melbourne's west. Four DC plugs at one free site is rare anywhere in the country.
This is the pick if you are heading down the Princes Highway toward Geelong or the Surf Coast and want to leave town topped up without paying for it. Fifty kilowatts across four bays means you can arrive without checking the app first and still expect to plug in.
Both CCS2 and CHAdeMO are available, so older Japanese EVs are covered.
Werribee town centre is walking distance, and there is a second free Chargefox site nearby at 22 Synnot Street with three 22kW AC plugs if the DC bays are full. Note that Werribee Plaza is not here, it is in Hoppers Crossing, so do not navigate to the wrong one.
How to start a session: Chargefox app or RFID. Listed as membership required, so set the account up in advance.
5. Greensborough Plaza
25 Main Street, Greensborough VIC 3088 Operator: Chargefox | 4 plugs | 22kW AC, socket and tethered. Open in Google maps
Four free 22kW plugs at Greensborough Plaza, listed as fully public access with no membership gate.
Twenty-two kilowatts adds roughly 100km of range an hour, so a normal shopping trip gets you a real charge rather than a token one. Some of the plugs are tethered, meaning you do not need to bring your own cable, which is a genuine convenience at an AC site.
Greensborough Plaza is a large centre with a big retail and food offer, so there is plenty to do while you charge. The thing to watch here is parking time limits rather than parking cost. The centre runs a mix of 90 minute and four hour zones plus undercover parking, and reviewers consistently warn to check the sign above your bay before you walk away. Ninety minutes at 22kW is still around 150km of range, so the shorter zones are not a dealbreaker.
How to start a session: Chargefox app, RFID card, or a registered Evie Pass.
Worth knowing: the ones that nearly made it
Hobsons Bay Civic Centre, 115 Civic Parade, Altona. A single free 50kW DC plug at the council offices, fully public. Only one bay, so it is a gamble, but it is a genuinely free fast charger in the west.
Cobblebank, corner Astley Drive and Bridge Road. Three plugs, 22kW AC and 25kW DC, fully public and free, out in the Melton growth corridor where free options are thin.
Malvern East, 880 Dandenong Road. One free 50kW DC plug in the inner south east. Single bay, so check availability first.
Chadstone area, 1341 Dandenong Road. Six free 7kW plugs. Slow, but six bays means you will get one.
Two Melbourne sites are free with a hard time cap, which is worth knowing before you plan around them.
11 Boundary Road, Coburg North is a 50kW DC charger, free for a one hour session. An hour at 50kW is a substantial charge, so this is a good deal rather than a catch, as long as you are not expecting to leave it overnight.
563 Pascoe Vale Road, Oak Park runs free three hour sessions across three plugs at 22kW and 7kW.
Neither is a gimmick. They are councils managing turnover. Just do not turn up expecting unlimited free power.
Before you drive there
Free is a status, not a permanent feature. Councils and centres introduce fees, and hosts switch to paid once demand picks up. Some of the records behind this list were last verified a while ago.
Check the Chargefox app or PlugShare for live pricing and availability before you go, and have a paid backup within a few kilometres.