ARENA grants $1.41 million to apartment EV charging startup Alchemy Charge
What's the deal? The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has awarded a US$1.29M (≈$1.41 million) grant to Alchemy ChargeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Sydney-based startup building pay-per-use EV charging for apartments, car parks, and short-term rentals. The money anchors Strata Assist, a US$4.79M national program that pairs a free digital platform with smart charging hardware.
Why now? Battery EVs and plug-in hybrids made up 25% of Australian new-car sales in the first half of 2026. But apartment residents — around 4.1 million Australians live in strata housing — still face approval, installation, and cost hurdles that drivers with private driveways do not.
What's the endgame? Set to launch on February 1, 2027, the Strata Assist platform gives residents, landlords, strata managers, and owners corporations a single workflow for information, quoting, and approvals. Alongside it, Alchemy will deploy its SmartPoint chargers — individually metered sockets in 10-amp and 15-amp configurations that use load management to fit more charge points into a building's existing electrical capacity.
SmartPoints meter their own electricity use, so costs can be allocated per user. Origin EnergyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → will act as charge point operator, integrating the sockets and supported Level 2 chargers into its Origin 360 EV Charge Platform and handling delivery, maintenance, and operations.
In their words: "People shouldn't have to become experts in strata processes or electrical infrastructure just to work out whether they can charge an electric car at home," said Yasemin Selvi, chief executive officer of Alchemy Charge. "Strata Assist is about helping people work through those questions, bringing the right parties together and giving apartment communities a practical way forward."
The signal: The grant sits mid-pack by size — larger than most but far from an outlier. It fits a clear ARENA pattern of backing apartment-charging pilots, including NOX EnergyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, ReadySteadyPlugDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Combined Energy Technologies. The real test is less the hardware than whether coordinated guidance, billing, and modest-power charging can make strata installations easier to approve and scale; deployment results will matter more than the launch.
Read more: thedriven.io
Image credit: Alchemy Charge
