The honest answer is that your switchboard decides this, not your budget. Here is how to work out which one you can actually use.
Start with what the property has, not what the charger can do
A 22 kW charger connected to a single-phase supply is a 7.4 kW charger with a higher price tag. The unit can only deliver what the property can feed it, so the first question is never which charger — it is what supply is at the meter.
Most Australian homes are single phase: one active conductor at 230–240 V. On a dedicated 32 A circuit that gives you about 7.4 kW, which is the ceiling for the overwhelming majority of houses in this country.
Three phase brings three actives at 400 V between them, and a 32 A three-phase circuit gives you about 22 kW. It is common in newer builds, rural properties with large pumps or sheds, homes that have had ducted air conditioning or a pool installed properly, and most commercial premises.
How to check which one you have
Open your switchboard and look at the main switch. A single main switch with one or two poles usually means single phase. A main switch spanning three poles, or three separate main switches grouped together, usually means three phase.
Then look at your meter. Three-phase meters typically show three sets of voltage or current readings, and older three-phase installations often have three separate fuse carriers at the service.
Do not treat this as a final answer. Confirm it with a licensed electrician before you order anything — it takes them a few minutes and it is the difference between the right purchase and an expensive one.
What each one means in range per hour
The number that matters to a driver is not kilowatts, it is kilometres added per hour of charging.
7.4 kW single phase adds roughly 40 km per hour. Plug in at 6 pm and by morning you have added far more than the average Australian daily drive of around 35–40 km. For a household with one EV and a normal commute, this is genuinely enough, and anybody telling you otherwise is selling something.
22 kW three phase adds roughly 120 km per hour — if the car can take it. A full charge lands in about 4–6 hours instead of overnight. That matters when a car comes home at 2 pm and goes back out at 7 pm, when two EVs share one charger, or when you are charging from solar and only have the middle of the day to work with.
The catch nobody mentions: your car's onboard charger
AC charging speed is capped by the onboard charger inside the vehicle, not by the wallbox. Many EVs sold in Australia have a single-phase onboard charger limited to 7 kW or 11 kW even when the car is otherwise excellent.
So a 22 kW wallbox on a car with a 7 kW onboard charger charges at 7 kW. You have bought headroom, not speed.
Check your vehicle's AC charging specification before you decide. If the car tops out at 7 kW and you have no plan to replace it with a three-phase-capable one, the extra spend on a 22 kW unit buys you future-proofing and nothing today.
When 22 kW is still the right call
You already have three phase and a car that can use it.
Two EVs in the household sharing one charge point, where load balancing splits the supply between them.
Solar self-consumption is the goal and you want to push as much midday production into the battery as possible.
It is a workplace, a small fleet, or a property where a vehicle needs to turn around inside the same day.
You are installing now and expect the next car to be three-phase capable — the wallbox will outlive the vehicle.
Key takeaways
- Your property's supply sets the ceiling — check single vs three phase before choosing a charger
- 7.4 kW adds about 40 km per hour, which covers the average Australian day with room to spare
- 22 kW adds about 120 km per hour but only if the car's onboard charger can accept three phase
- Have a licensed electrician confirm your supply and switchboard capacity before you order