Renting in inner Melbourne, no assigned car space — is 5m long enough for the street pole charger near my building, or do I need 7m?
Six months into owning this car and I still don't have anywhere to plug in at home — no assigned space, and the building's got zero interest in doing anything about chargers for now. There's an untethered pole charger about half a block from my building that I've started using two or three nights a week, parking wherever I can find a spot on the street.
Right now I'm borrowing a 5m Type 2 cable off a friend to test it out before I buy my own, and it juuust reaches if I park in the closest bay. Everyone online says get 7m "to be safe" but the price difference is real — like $150+ more for the extra length, and it's heavier to carry around and store.
Is 5m actually workable if I'm not guaranteed the closest park, or am I setting myself up to be the person who can't reach the charger and has to reshuffle? What's everyone else actually running day to day?
Filed under: Type 2 Cables & Portable EVSE
9
6 answers
6 ANSWERS
@petey_fxAugust 03, 2026
Go the 7m if you're not guaranteed the closest bay. Learned this exact lesson — bought a 5m first, then had someone else take the near spot two nights running and I was reversing on an angle just to make the plug reach. Buy the length for the parking you'll actually get, not the parking you're hoping for.
Five months on a 5m here, on-street parking the whole time, never once caught short. Not paying an extra $150 chasing a problem I haven't actually had yet.
@trent_b87August 02, 2026
Before deciding on length alone, ask what amp rating both cables actually hold once you're at 7m versus 5m. Some ranges quietly step down to a lighter gauge core on the longer option to keep the price sane, which means more voltage drop over that extra run, not just a longer cord for the same money.
Would that actually show up on the listing somewhere, or do I need to message the seller directly and ask for the gauge on the 7m version specifically?
Rarely spelled out anywhere near the listing itself — most sellers just advertise '32A' front and centre without saying whether that's the 3-phase rating or a single-phase-only cable, let alone the actual conductor gauge at 7m versus 5m. That detail's either buried in a spec sheet PDF if they've bothered to publish one, or not written down anywhere public at all. Message the seller directly and ask for the continuous amp rating at the specific length you're buying, not just the headline number — and once it arrives, the IEC 62196 markings printed on the cable jacket itself will confirm what you actually got.
@just_lurking22August 03, 2026
Same boat, still borrowing a mate's cable.
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