EV Charging Stations and Roadside Assistance in Ballarat

Ballarat punches above its weight for charging. Within 25 km of the centre, Open Charge Map lists nine public charging locations as of September 2026, five of them DC fast, and two of those are rated at 350 kW, which puts the city on the same tier as the ultra-rapid corridor sites between Melbourne and Adelaide. There is a ten-stall Tesla Supercharger at Lucas that takes non-Tesla cars, and RACV, the Victorian club, covers EVs on every plan with up to 200 km of out-of-charge towing on its top tier. The one stretch worth planning around is the Western Freeway east: on our data there is nothing between Melton and Warrenheip.

EV charging stations in Ballarat

The city centre’s headline site is the RACV-backed Chargefox ultra-rapid station on Davies Street, one of the club-funded sites that make up Chargefox’s national ultra-rapid network. It is rated at up to 350 kW, listed on Open Charge Map with six CCS2 bays, and priced by the site owner as every Chargefox charger is; RACV members get 10 per cent off here by linking their membership in the Chargefox app. On a car that can accept it, 15 minutes at this site is a few hundred kilometres of range.

Tesla’s newer Lucas Supercharger at Coltman Plaza Shopping Centre, on the western edge of the city, has ten stalls at up to 250 kW, runs 24/7, and is open to non-Tesla vehicles with CCS compatibility through the Tesla app. Tesla’s original Ballarat Supercharger at 333 Gillies Street North is a different generation: six stalls at up to 120 kW, and Tesla does not list it as open to other brands, so non-Tesla drivers should head to Lucas.

The highway stop is Evie’s pair at the Shell Coles Express at Warrenheip, on the Western Highway 7 km east of the centre, rated at 350 kW on CCS2 with CHAdeMO alongside. It is the first fast charger you meet arriving from Melbourne and the last one leaving, which makes it the natural splash-and-dash for through traffic that does not want to come into town. North, Chargefox runs a 50 kW unit with CCS2 and CHAdeMO at the Creswick Visitor Information Centre, 16 km up the Midland Highway.

AC destination charging is thin but useful: Chargefox 22 kW posts at the Midlands Golf Club in Invermay Park (six sockets) and at Coles Sebastopol, plus a 7 kW unit at a gallery on the Midland Highway south of town. Open Charge Map lists one 7 kW AC unit on Gillies Street North as free, but it was last verified in 2019, so do not plan a trip around it.

The state-wide picture, including every fast charger in the goldfields, is on our Ballarat and goldfields charger page. If the apps-and-plugs side of public charging is new to you, our guide to public EV charging in Australia covers how each network works and what fast charging costs, typically between about 50 and 80 cents per kWh as of August 2026.

EV roadside assistance options in Ballarat

RACV is Victoria’s club and the default roadside choice in Ballarat. It assists electric vehicles at no extra cost on all three plans, Roadside Care, Extra Care and Total Care, with the same unlimited callouts as any other member. If you run out of charge, RACV tows you to the nearest accessible charging station using your plan’s towing allowance: 20 km on Roadside Care, 60 km on Extra Care and 100 km on Total Care for general towing, and on Total Care battery electric vehicles get up to 200 km of out-of-charge towing, the most generous EV-specific allowance of any Australian club. In a city with a 350 kW site in the CBD, any tow within the urban area is a short one; the 200 km matters on the highways out.

RACV has skin in the charging game too: the Davies Street ultra-rapid site is one of the RACV-backed stations in the Chargefox network. Our RACV EV roadside guide breaks down each plan tier and what the out-of-charge entitlements look like in practice. For how club cover compares with insurer add-ons and the manufacturer programs bundled with new EVs, see our complete guide to EV roadside assistance in Australia; all of those operate normally in Ballarat.

Keep the risk in proportion. RACV’s own callout data shows out-of-charge incidents rising simply because Victoria’s EV fleet is growing, but the bulk of EV roadside work remains flat 12-volt batteries, tyres and lockouts, identical to petrol cars. Those are standard entitlements on every plan.

Mobile EV charging in Ballarat

RACV announced in June 2026 that it is trialling a mobile DC fast charger fitted to a patrol van, capable of around one kilometre of range per minute of charging. It is a trial, it is a single vehicle, and RACV has not published where it operates, so do not assume it will be available in Ballarat on any given day. The commercial operator Mobile EV Charging lists Victoria among its service areas, but its no-call-out-fee radius is 20 km from a capital city CBD for non-members and 50 km for members, and Ballarat is about 115 km from Melbourne’s, so expect a call-out fee and confirm coverage before you rely on it.

For most flat-battery situations here the realistic outcome is still a tow to a fast charger, which RACV’s cover handles, and Ballarat’s chargers are close enough together that it is a short one. The national state of play is in our mobile EV charging guide.

Charging on Ballarat’s main routes

Western Freeway (M8) east to Melbourne. About 115 km of freeway. On our Melbourne to Adelaide route data the last charger on the Melbourne side is Evie’s 50 kW at Melton, and the first at this end is Warrenheip, with nothing at Bacchus Marsh or Ballan in between: roughly 60 km of freeway with no bail-out. That is no problem in a modern EV with a reasonable charge, but it means leaving Melbourne with the run in the battery. Heading east, top up at Warrenheip or Davies Street before the climb over the Pentland Hills. At the far end, our Melbourne EV charging and roadside guide covers the capital’s network.

Western Highway (A8) west to Adelaide. The easy direction, because the goldfields and Wimmera towns are stepped with fast chargers: Evie’s 50 kW at Beaufort about 45 km out, NRMA’s 150 kW and Evie’s 50 kW at Ararat around 90 km, then Stawell at 250 kW, Horsham at 350 kW and Nhill beyond. On our Melbourne to Adelaide route data the longest gap between chargers on the whole 727 km run is 64 km, and it is further west than any of these. Leave Ballarat with a comfortable margin and the Wimmera looks after itself.

Midland Highway (A300) south to Geelong. About 90 km, quieter than the freeway but no longer empty: Evie has 50 kW units at Meredith and Bannockburn on the way down. Our Geelong EV charging and roadside guide picks up at the other end, including the Corio Superchargers just off the Princes Freeway.

Midland Highway north to Daylesford, Castlemaine and Bendigo. Creswick’s 50 kW Chargefox is 16 km out, then Daylesford has a 25 kW Chargefox at the Town Hall and Hepburn Springs a 50 kW at the Bathhouse, Castlemaine has a 50 kW Evie at the Market Building car park, and Bendigo’s own network takes over from there; our Bendigo and central goldfields charger page lists it. Distances are short and the spa-country stops are pleasant ones.

Sunraysia Highway to Maryborough. Around 65 km northwest with a 50 kW Evie at the Maryborough end. Nothing in between on our data, but the leg is short.

Glenelg Highway (B160) west to Hamilton. The long one: about 180 km with nothing on our data at Skipton or anywhere between Ballarat and Evie’s 50 kW at Hamilton. Leave with the whole leg in the battery, and if your car is marginal for that distance in winter, take the Western Highway to Ararat and come down through the Grampians instead.