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Adding a second battery — Tesla finally makes it possible
When Lightning Energy installed our Powerwall 2 back in December 2023 https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Anc2vKKqZ/ it was great. Paired with our 13 kW Enphase/Jinko solar system and 10 kW inverter, it's been handling our fully electrified home in Emerald pretty well — five reverse-cycle ACs, heat pump hot water, EV charging, and grid outages lasting up to nine days. But as we've added more loads, I've been thinking about expanding battery storage. There was a problem, though. The Powerwall 2 is no longer CEC-approved for new installations in Australia. Tesla stopped taking orders for it in late 2024/early 2025, and as of January 2026 it's no longer on the Clean Energy Council approved list. So you can't add a second one. And until very recently, the Powerwall 3 — Tesla's current model — was completely incompatible with the Powerwall 2. They couldn't talk to each other. That meant anyone with a Powerwall 2 who wanted more storage faced a painful choice: rip out the existing battery and…
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Heat pump testing — how fast does it heat?
In my December post about our heat pump installation, I mentioned that one of the reasons I chose Emerald was the integrated app. It shows the tank capacity, water temperature, outdoor temperature, and lets me turn it on and off or activate Boost Mode remotely. I've since used it to answer a question: how long does it actually take to heat the water, and does outdoor temperature make a difference? Over the past couple of months, I've been taking semi-random screenshots of the Emerald app at intervals through the day, tracking the water temperature as it heats from "Low" (around 25–30°C) up to the 60°C target. I did this on 11 different days, with outdoor temperatures ranging from about 14°C to 32°C. I then used AI (Claude, by Anthropic) to read all 87 screenshots, extract the data, and plot it on a chart. The chart shows each day's heating curve overlaid, with the lines colour-coded by outdoor temperature — red for hot days, blue for cool days. We might expect to see the warmer days…
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Goodbye gas! I finally organised disconnecting the ducted gas heating at our home.
If only we could see the burnt gas pouring into the air, all the time, and not just when the condensation highlights it (as in the photos). Pumping carcinogens and greenhouse gases into the air that we breathe. It’s nuts. It was costing us up to $528 per month to run the heating in winter. Our replacement air conditioning will be closer to free, thanks to our solar and battery. We recently also replaced our gas hot water with a heat pump. See my post about that, here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17xtnGjv2E/ Our one remaining gas appliance is our stove top. Once that’s gone, we will save $35 per month just for the connection fee. And no more gas! We’re replacing the gas heating with some split air conditioners. Read about our replacement system here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18cxsd3qG7/ Follow Tesla Tripping to stay tuned. For those who might say “what about in a blackout”? Note the power point connection on the old gas heating. Our old gas hot water heat pump had one too.…
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Time for a break and a cup of tea.
The navigation says that the next EV charger is at Coolac, just north of Gundagai, so we stopped there. Wow. It’s a pretty bad. The chargers are great, simple and fast. But the site is woeful. The hotel is closed or being renovated. The toilets are port-a-loos, but are disgusting . I don’t know how much of that is due to infrequent maintenance versus just being the busiest time of year. There is a service station nearby with some food and hopefully better toilets, but it’s a ten minute walk away in the heat, and not an option for Mum’s walker. Some people were sheltering from the sun under the three tall trees begging the toilets. Not a great spot. Tesla/government really needs to ensure better location for EV chargers. We enjoyed a cup of tea from our thermoses, and some Christmas snacks (thank you Krissy). Some way further up the highway, we pulled over into Bookham, for a conveniently located toilet and a bit of a stretch in some broken shade. In the few minutes we were there, two…
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What to ask for, in a battery installation?
I suggest getting your installer to agree in writing that your battery installation will include: 1. Remote control via an app and/or website to monitor your battery and house power. 2. During a grid outage, the battery should provide backup for everything you need. 3. During a grid outage, solar continues to provide power. 4. The ability to curtail export of power to the grid when pricing is negative. 5. Compatibility with Amber Electric, if you might want to use them as your energy retailer. Let’s look at each in detail: 1. Using an app or website, you can: 1. Monitor power in and out of your battery, house and grid connection, instantaneous, daily and historical. 2. At any time, set your battery to a minimum charge percentage. 2. In the event of a grid outage: 1. The battery will switch over automatically. The installer should test it and show you. 2. The battery will power all of your home, up to the battery’s maximum power (which should be at least 5kW). 3. If you have three…
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A few neighbours and friends have asked us lately for advice about solar panels, house…
…battery, EVs etc. Here’s our real life experience, starting a series of posts on different topics. We installed solar and battery when we moved into our house (Emerald, Victoria) about two years ago. We already had an EV (electric car). This week, we finally got around to replacing our gas hot water with an electric heat pump. Next month we’re replacing our gas ducted heating with a multi head split air conditioning system. Overall, our solar and battery provide more electricity than we use. We’re also connected to the electricity grid so we can import when we need more, or export when we have a surplus. We aim to produce all the power that we need. On the rare times that we import electricity from the grid, our retailer bills us. More often, we export our surplus electricity to the grid, for which they give us a credit. Overall, we have more credit than debits, so we don’t have to pay anything. All this depends on your electricity plan, which I’ll discuss in a separate post. The…
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Heat pump installation
We finally got around to installing a hot water heat pump, to replace our gas hot water system. We were paying about $40 per month for our instant gas hot water (plus $40 connection fee). Now we’re paying nothing, because the heat pump is just using our excess solar power. Without solar, I estimate it would be costing us $8 per month to power it from the electricity grid. There are a few incentive schemes around to replace gas (or other old inefficient systems) with a heat pump. An installer will factor these into their quote. The subsidies can be significant. In our case, the total price was $4480, but it was reduced to $1650 for us to pay, after subsidies were subtracted. A hot water heat pump uses the same principle as an air conditioner (which is also a heat pump). It “pumps” heat from one side to the other. In this case, it pumps heat from the outside air into the tank of water. The basic physics is that when you compress air in a confined space, it gets hot, and when you expand…
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On our way to Coober Pedy, the plan was to stop here at the Glendambo Roadhouse for lunch…
…and top up “fuel” for the car. Glendambo seems to consist of three main buildings: on the left, an old run down, decommissioned service station. In the middle, a roadhouse/pub, with access to motel rooms and camp ground behind. On the right, a newer service station with simple hot food options. I heard the service station staff saying that they had run out of diesel fuel, awaiting a delivery in an hour or two. A truckie reported to say he had thousands of litres parked outside, but he couldn’t give it up, since it was bound for Coober Pedy. If there’s no fuel, there’s no plan B. You just have to wait and hope. We chatted to one of the guys towing the rally car with skulls, appropriately named “Numb Skulls”. They’re headed from home in Katherine, NT south for the Variety Bash near Adelaide, then back home. That’s a lot of towing. See our stop here a week later, on our return trip: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/178rweHEce/ Charging: The Chargefox app and PlugShare app showed a 20 or…
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Although it’s in the middle of nowhere, Spud's Roadhouse is a great place to stop on the…
…way to Uluru. For one, it has a few EV charging options. Now, charging should be simple, like it was for the two EVs that were here when I arrived. They each plugged into one of the two DC charging cables, walked over to get some food at the roadhouse while their cars charged. Then off they went – one towards Adelaide and the other to Roxbury. But life isn’t always so simple. I plugged into the remaining charger, which is a slower AC station. It’s only 7kW, compared to the faster DC adjacent chargers at 80-150kW. But, that’s fine – I’m staying here overnight, so I have the time, or I could have just used a fast charger when one of the other drivers disconnected. This AC charger requires your own “Type 2” (technically “Mennekes”) cable, which we have, so I plugged it into the car and EV charger. To my surprise, it immediately started charging, without using an app or tap card. I left it connected and it was at 93% after we finished dinner. I went to unplug it, which should be easy,…
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Out for a walk along the levee bank along the Murrumbidgee River in Wagga Wagga.
Beautiful day, warmer now with the sunshine. Lots of people camping by the river, I presume as their homes. Must be so cold at night. Charging: The simplest and fastest place to charge in Wagga is at the Tesla Superchargers, which is open to all EVs. But, we aim to charge wherever we happen to be. And here, The NRMA has a fast charger, so we chose to use that. A few minor problems with it, though: 1. It has two CCS2 cables, which is great. But only one parking spot is marked for EV parking. When we arrived, we were the second car after the BYD Dolphin that was already plugged in. We initially parked on the other side of the charger, but soon realised that we were jutting further out into the car park, because the charging station takes a quarter of that parking spot. I think the shorter spot is meant for motorbikes, which explains the extra painted line, but there’s no sign. So, we moved to the spot next to the first car, which is not marked for EVs, but fortunately was empty, and…
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Quick stop for a fluid change (hot chocolate in, wee out) at Oliver's Real Food Gundagai.
Charging: Three of the six Tesla Supercharger stalls were occupied when we arrived. They were parked in alternate slots, which maximises the power to each car, since each adjacent pair of chargers share power. We had to park next to someone, which lowered their charge rate. A few minutes later, they disconnected and left, which increased our charge rate from 65kW to 130kW.
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Stop for a late lunch, in Yass, at Kaffeine 2582.
We picked this place, because it’s opposite the Tesla Superchargers. I wonder if the cafe realises how many EV drivers now eat at their cafe 🤔. Charging: This is the first time we’ve charged the new car to 100% (or 99 ish). It estimated the range at 418km, which is the same as our previous Model 3 had, after 91,000km. The Model Y gets a bit less range due to extra weight and size. Charging was quick and seamless, except that the release button on the changing cable wouldn’t work, so we reported the issue via the Tesla app. We disconnected using the Tesla app too. Powered by the iconic Cullerin Range Wind Farm, just down the highway (pictured).
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The NRMA Airlie Beach Holiday Park is a shining light.
EV destination chargers at each of the new cabins. Fast chargers out front for the public. Efficient electric hot water heat pumps. On site cafe and coffee. E-bikes. Walk to nearby Coles and shopping center. This is the future. Well done, The NRMA! Missing our own EV right now, still parked back in Melbourne airport.
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Crepes filled with chocolate mousse, banana and cherry sauce is a perfectly legitimate…
…breakfast, according to Botero Cafe, in Maclean. Onward north towards Coollum Beach in Queensland. Charging: We fully charged last night at the Waterview Motel in Maclean. We stopped briefly at a BP service center along the highway. We noticed a BP fast (ish) charger, and figured we might as well plug in while parked anyway. But it was a bit of a faf to get it working, and then it decided to disconnect itself.
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We arrived in Venice! I’ll let the photos speak to the beauty and hustle bustle of the…
…place. Best to view them in landscape, full screen, and zoom in. It’s gorgeous. The chaos and fumes of narrow roads is gone – replaced with similar in canals. The walks through town are delightful. So many shops and things going on. It was supposed to be an easy transition for us today, with a one hour drive from our previous night’s stay near Verona. But it ended up being a big day. Here’s a list of our challenges and goofs today: 1. The police escort through Verona. That deserves its own post. Stay tuned. 2. We searched Booking.com for accommodation in Venice that included parking. We were aware that you can drive to Venice but not into Venice. We hoped to find accommodation that provided some parking so we wouldn’t have to arrange a shuttle, repack and lug bags too far. It was a long shot, but we found a match. It wasn’t until after we booked it that communication with the coordinator revealed that the “parking” was actually on the mainland, before the 4km bridge to Venice, and it…
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We spent the afternoon exploring the Aare Gorge, along the elevated board walk.
Beautiful. Lunch on site. We couldn’t leave the area without patting a donkey and Shetland pony. So much beauty all around. Delivered spaghetti and pizza for dinner, back at our hotel. We’re in training for Italy in a few days 😉. Charging: At the Aare Gorge car park, we optimistically drove past the parked cars towards the entrance. We were rewarded with not only a free spot but also EV destination chargers. The UFODRIVE supplied payment card didn’t seem to be compatible here, but I paid using the QR code and Apple Pay. They emailed a link for disconnecting, but the charger disconnected automatically when I stopped charging from the Tesla. Pretty easy. It gave us nearly half a tank, topping us to near capacity, while we were exploring.
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On our way today from Goulburn to Newcastle.
Time for a toilet stop and stretch in Seven Hills. I tapped the charger icon on the Tesla screen and one of the options it showed was 10km ahead along our route, in Seven Hills, which seemed likely to also have toilets. I tapped that location, added it to our route. The Tesla realised it was a charger and started preconditioning the battery (for faster charging on arrival). Lots of road works out here on the highway. I found it difficult to determine which of the lines on the road were removed and which were the new ones, in the glare of the sun on the road. At one point, a ute in front of us was straddling two lanes until some other cars behind alerted them to the misalignment. Somehow our Tesla’s Autopilot managed to make sense of it all and kept us in the correct lane. Super impressive. Mum’s Apple Watch didn’t charge last night in the motel, so we plugged it into the USB-C port in the car. Onward to the NSW Central Coast, then Cessnock, and back to Newcastle for tonight. Charging:…
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I charged up again using the JOLT Charge at Ferntree Gully Station, while doing some work…
…on my laptop. While there, a Nissan Leaf pulled up next to me. The driver, Tony, told me that he wanted to try out the Jolt charging for the first time. He bought his Nissan Leaf two years ago as a “grey” import for $18,000. It’s a 2014 model. It has a 24kWh battery but now only gets about 100km on a full charge. He also said that it doesn’t have great thermal management of the battery, so regular fast charging can be problematic. For comparison, our bottom range Tesla Model 3 has a 60kWh battery and gets 360 to 440km on a full charge. The technology has certainly come a long way since the original Nissan Leaf cars, but they paved the way. Charging: The Leaf uses the Chademo cable, whereas the Tesla (and most other EVs) use the CCS2 connector. But the charging station doesn’t allow us to connect both cables at the same time, since it has a total maximum draw of 25kW. I was happy to disconnect while he tried out the Chademo, and then reconnect after he’d finished. Neither of us were…
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We drove through the evening from Murray’s Beach to Hurstville, to at least make it south…
…of Sydney CBD before the next morning peak traffic. We checked Booking.com for accommodation in the area with an EV charger, and checked in to Travel Lodge in Hurstville. When we arrived, we couldn’t figure out where to park. Not clearly marked for Travel Lodge. With pillows tucked under arms, bags in each hand, we emerged through the lifts at… the club up the road, much to the amusement of the club staff. We then walked down the road to Travel Lodge, checked in, and moved the car. I grabbed some pizza for dinner, down the road, but spent ten minutes trying to find my way out of Westfield. Charging: Their EV charging setup is pretty good. You check in using the Exploren app, but these chargers don’t actually charge you any money, unless you stay 30 minutes after you’ve finished charging. ie “idle fees”. And this doesn’t seem to apply after hours, if the charging finishes when you’re asleep. Great system! But, just in case, and because I didn’t read the fine print, I parked next to…
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We charged up at Miami Aquatic Centre.
The charger is between the parking spots, in a layout I haven’t seen before. I guess it’s more flexible to plug into front or rear car chargers without turning the car around. The display seemed to indicate 75kW, but I only got 37kW out of it, even though I was the only one connected. I checked in on PlugShare, so I could be alerted if anyone was waiting, while I charged up to 100%. If anyone else was waiting, I would disconnect after 95%, when the charge rate slows. However, there was a guy waiting in an MG. He hadn’t checked in using PlugShare and the Chargefox app doesn’t facilitate waiting, so I didn’t know he was waiting. I happened to look sideways at one point to see him parked in the other EV bay, which he’s not supposed to do, since it blocks others who might want to use the Chademo connector. But if he hadn’t, I wouldn’t have noticed. He is an Uber driver and this was his second time charging that day. He said he is waiting on a wall charger or cable for home, since MG is…
Formerly: Tesla Tripping
Come along on our EV road trips around Australia and Europe, and follow as we progressively electrify our home in Emerald, Victoria.
Join us on the road. We set off in late 2022 and drove eastern Australia in our Tesla Model 3 — Sydney, Dubbo, Armidale, Brisbane, Cape Tribulation, then down through Queensland and back. We've since upgraded to a Model Y.
We've kept exploring — Uluru, the Snowy Mountains and Gippsland, and a longer run through Europe in 2024. There's plenty more on the map, so come along for the next leg.
At home in Emerald, in Victoria's Dandenong Ranges, we're progressively electrifying everything: rooftop solar, a home battery, a hot water heat pump, air conditioned heating and cooling, and EV charging straight from the sun. We're going fully electric, off the gas.
Got questions, or insights of your own? We'd love to hear them — please drop a comment on any post.