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…

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…

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.…

First service call for our Tesla Model Y. Replacing our loaner wheel with a new wheel.

As you can see in our posts from a few weeks ago, we hit a pothole, damaging our left rear wheel. At the time, we only knew that we had a slow leak. We logged the problem in the Tesla app. They arranged for roadside assistance to come to us, in about an hour, to install a loaner wheel, and take ours away to diagnose. Today, Tesla replaced the loan wheel with a new wheel, costing a whopping $1319. I asked them to clean the damaged wheel and put it in the back of the car. In the photos, you can see the buckle and crack. I am wondering if it is fixable. When I booked this service in the app, I also asked them to fix the water in the light bar, and some issues with the steering wheel buttons. They replaced both. I’ll discuss the steering wheel buttons in a separate post. All covered under warranty. I had a bit of trouble figuring out where to leave the car. Several after me also mistakenly parked in front of the waiting lounge, next to a sign that probably shouldn’t be there. One of the…

Lunch stop at Oliver's, just outside Gundagai. I recommend the Oli burger 🍔.

Tesla Model 3 with stripes parked near us. FSD along most of the Hume Highway. It does a great job, and avoids human fatigue. A few complaints, though, including it repeatedly thinking that the speed limit is 100, even when it’s actually 110 (pictured). Occasionally it dropped to 80 or 40, presumably after seeing some random sign off the highway. Pretty good driving efficiency with FSD, too, about 14kWh per 100km. See screenshots. Charging: Tesla Superchargers conveniently located in the car park behind Oliver’s. It’s the first EV charging station I recall noticing, many years ago, long before we went electric. We just park, plug in, walk away. Charging finished just as we finished lunch. Perfect. Takes less than ten seconds of our time. Most Tesla chargers these days are compatible with all EVs. But these at Oliver’s are Tesla only. The general EV chargers have moved next door, to The Dog on the Tuckerbox. It’s now just one unit, with two cables. A few kilometres up the road, in…

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…

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…

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…

Coffee stop, just north of Glenrowan, at the BP service centre.

The Tesla/Google navigation only knew the south bound service center here, so the directions tried to send us over the highway 🤪. Thanks to the nearby solar farm that provides the power to the grid that found its way to our car. We overheard someone paying $1100 for fuel, presumably a semi trailer. Wow. 😮 Home baked Anzac slice (thank you Krissy) was the perfect accompaniment for the coffee and thermos of tea. The small birds begged us for crumbs. On towards Wagga. Charging: This is the first public charging for our new car. The Tesla navigation planned to route us through the Superchargers in Wangaratta, but we charged here because we were stopping anyway, for coffee. We aim to charge opportunistically – meaning: charge while we’re stopped anyway to do something else. In hindsight, we probably should have pressed on to Wangaratta for coffee and a charge. This BP charger cost 75c per kWh, which is probably the most expensive we have paid. The Tesla Superchargers, which are faster and…

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.

We know our Tesla Model 3 can fit a 50L camp fridge.

And we know it will take a large travel suitcase, or four people and some luggage. But we didn’t know if it would take all that at the same time. It took a fair bit of Tetris-ing, and the boot strained at the seams, but we managed to get everything in. I think we might need a bigger car. First stop at Eumundi Markets. We parked in the shade and later opened the boot so the fridge had some outlet for the hot air. Second stop along the highway at Burpengary for some fast food lunch. Then we delivered Erin and Isaiah to their accommodation in Brisbane before their flight back to Airlie Beach tomorrow. Charging: We charged up a couple of days ago at Tesla Superchargers while we had dinner. Today, since we stopped along the highway anyway, we plugged into one of the bp pulse fast chargers. After the faf I had the other day with one, I’ve learnt to get the session and payment started in the app first, then plug in. It worked first time. But I wish it was as easy as it is at Tesla and Evie…

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.

October 31 - November 2: After a series of Halloween misadventures, we finally made it to…

…our accommodation, south east of Paris. Beautiful buildings, set on a farm. Breakfast set by Jerome each morning. Charging: The site included a destination charger, but we didn’t end up using it, since we already charged up when stopping for dinner.

The long flight home from Amsterdam, via Singapore, back to Melbourne.

to Melbourne. First, a quick correction to Tom’s inside out t-shirt – it was a chaotic morning getting to the airport. The food and service on Singapore AIRLINES was great. The in flight wifi is good, but connecting to it is more complicated than it should be. We couldn’t sleep. Towards the end, we looked at each other in despair and lamented “the human body was not designed to endure this”. Final leg from Melbourne Airport to home in Emerald via Uber in a Tesla Model 3, just like ours. We were impressed how the driver managed to fit all our luggage in the boot. Just in time for a well earned sleep 😴. Next morning: removal of the Europe road trip beard.

Up early (ish) to drive the Tesla to the airport.

Luckily we allowed extra time, because a bus breakdown at the airport delayed us by an hour. And then trying to find where to return the rental car took us ages. UFODRIVE needs to improve the airport drop off instructions. But the rest of the return process worked pretty well. All from within the app, take some photos and finalise to lock the car.

Our final night in Amsterdam, and the Netherlands, and Europe, before our long flight…

…home tomorrow.

We can cross “electric hearse” off our list of electric vehicles to see 😮. Seems

to be a custom converted Tesla.

Our last meet up with cousin Nico, in Amsterdam, for lunch at the Noorderlicht Café.

Converted docklands with some interesting large artwork. We’ve spent two months in Europe. We hired a Tesla Model Y from UFODRIVE in the Netherlands, visited Germany for lunch, drove all over the Netherlands, then through Belgium, France and Switzerland, down to Italy, and back. We left Nico with a “gift bag” of all the road tripping gear (cooler bag, utensils etc) that wouldn’t fit in our plane baggage tomorrow. Sad to say goodbye, but lots of great memories.

A lazy wander around Amsterdam.

Really need to pay attention when crossing the road. Watch out for tiny cars, electric bikes, trams, line marking machines, horses, even stilts.

A day wandering around Amsterdam, starting at the Van Gogh Museum.

Lunch next to the canal. No fumes or noise from the many passing tour boats, because they are all electric. Blissful. Charging: Our car sat in the parking station, while we wandered. Many charging options around town, next to standard parking spots.

Full circle through Europe, after nearly 8000km, back to Amsterdam.

We checked in at the Clayton Hotel. Parking across the canal at QPark – not cheap in the city, for a few days. Tight fit. Several EV charging points. The nearby Albert Heijn store stocked Australian Lindermans wine. Charging: No need to charge. We’ll return the car in a few days. UFODRIVE only requires 20% charge when returning the EV. Much better than the typical rental petrol car full tank requirement.

We drove from France, through Belgium, back to Amsterdam.

First stop, in Lesquin France, at a McDonalds for lunch. This was our first and only fast food chain stop while in Europe. We were curious to see if it was much different to home. The French fries on the menu are, of course, just called “fries” (or “frites”, in French). They also offer plant based chicken nuggets. Charging: We parked next door to McDonald’s, at the Tesla Supercharger, which filled us up from 7% arrival, while we had lunch. We tried a Shell charger at a highway service station, while we were stopped for a few minutes toilet break. Another toilet break at a KFC offered us a few minutes to top up at the Tesla Supercharger there. Charging is what the car does while you’re doing something else.

We arrived last night in this delightful B&B, in the small French town of Flavy-Le-Martel.

Our host shared breakfast time with us, telling us the history. She bought the derelict house, which had been abandoned for thirty years. She moved from Paris, and spent a decade rebuilding it, with help from contractors, but mostly herself, with instructions from YouTube videos. Very impressive. We loved being back on rural roads.

Goodbye Paris. A quick wave as we passed the Arc de Triomphe and the Moulin Rouge.

Northward to Sant-Quentin, France, for a traditional… Indian dinner. Charging: We lazily just let the Tesla guide us to a supercharger along the way. For the first time in our two years of driving a Tesla, there was actually a queue. Fascinated by the novelty, we hung around, wondering how it’s sorted. A line of cars had formed at one end, so we drove around to join. We waited over 20 minutes. Not a novelty anymore. But I can say I’ve done it now. It turned out to be some end of holiday high demand rush. If we had it again, I would have picked a less busy charger along the route

Lunch at la Petit Palais (the Little Palace).

Much more inviting, friendly and accessible than most palatial attractions.

We strolled around Paris, checking out some more of the architecture.

Quite a few different types of electric vehicles in Paris, including cars, buses, vans…

…, buses, vans, boats, motorcycles, e-bikes, even unicycles! The inner region of the city now requires vehicles to register and display an emissions sticker. The less polluting the vehicle, the cheaper the permit. The result: noticeably improved air quality, with obvious benefits to health. There are also many electric charging options. The future is looking good.

How many photos can we take of the Eiffel Tower?

Eiffel Tower? We tried our best, over a couple of days, while we stayed a few blocks away, in Paris.

We used the last of our Luxury Escapes credit to book a couple of nights at this hotel in…

…Paris, a few blocks walk from the Eiffel Tower and the river. Parking on site, but it was a tight fit. The toilets were in the basement, with an impressive arched roof of stones. Many enticing patisseries nearby, even just outside our window. First task was to buy some croissants to have in our room. Then a walk to the Eiffel Tower, and some dinner out, in Paris. As you do 😉.

A lazy day after two days of tackling traffic to and from Versailles.

We drove through some of the poorer high density suburbs around us, stopping in a park with a random ruin. Filled with families playing bocci, other ball games, and just enjoying life. Lunch options were difficult to find. We discovered that it was “All Saints Day”, with many businesses closed. We ate at a pub, still Halloween themed, including dismembered body parts. We opted for vegetarian 😉. Tomorrow we’re heading to Paris.

Back to the Palace of Versailles.

We got to go inside this time, having finally snapped up tickets. Interior decorating overload. Amazing, ostentatious, a bit crowded. The stairs have a well worn groove from so many visitors. The traffic home seemed busier than yesterday. A long slow drive to get back. We later discovered that tomorrow is a public holiday “All Saints Day”. So, we were driving out of Paris suburbs in peak hour, just before a long weekend. We stopped by Best Wok again for dinner, and snapped a photo with the robot waiter. Charging: Tesla Superchargers next to Best Wok. The car was charged before we finished our first course of dinner. We could have also charged at or accommodation. So many options.

Our Versailles string of mishaps continued.

First the good news. We finally got out of Versailles and the busy night time suburbs of Paris, heading south east towards our accommodation. Overdue for some dinner, and the EV needing a charge, we looked on the Tesla’s navigation for a stop along the way for both. We picked one of several options along the way, a bank of “V4” Tesla superchargers. We parked, plugged in, and walked next door to “Best Wok” – an all you can eat buffet restaurant. Once we started talking, the designated English speaking staff member came over to help us. The staff were all lovely. Even the robot that collected the dirty plates and delivered drinks, had a smile. Marvin better lift his game 😉. So many food options. We were overjoyed to have fresh veggies. We plated a pile of ingredients, handed them to the wok cook, and watched him fry it up. Fun and delicious. We didn’t have escargot or frogs legs, but this was such a joyful meal to have in France. Returning to our car, all the other EVs had left. We soon…

Our second run in with police in Europe. This time in France.

After exploring the gardens around the Palace of Versailles, in the evening we drove through the southern suburbs of Paris towards the accommodation we had booked earlier that day. The navigation said to take an exit in 300m, but there were two close together, and I mistakenly took the one, which took us back in the wrong direction, through a low clearance long tunnel with a €12 fee., adding another hour to our trip. This was not going well. We exited the tunnel, back in the suburbs, driving through Versailles. Slow traffic, single lane in each direction. We could hear a siren somewhere getting closer. Suddenly, there was a police car on the wrong side of the road heading straight for our rental Tesla. In addition to flashers and sirens, they started flashing high beams. We stopped, checked rear vision cameras and mirror, and slowly reversed to the side. Bang! We hit something. We felt and heard it. “Shit shit shit” I said as I immediately thought of the €2000 excess that would soon…

We arrived at at the Palace of Versailles, passed the golden gates and the armed guards…

…only to discover that tickets to the actual palace were completely sold out for today. So, we spent the afternoon wandering the magnificent gardens (which also required tickets). But first, lunch at one of the restaurants, which turned out to be big plate (and bill), small meal. Fancy and delicious, though. We bought tickets to the palace for tomorrow, which means another trip back here from our accommodation on the other side of Paris. Charging: We looked for a nearby EV charger, which would have also given us free parking, but they were taken. So, we paid about $30 for parking near the front gate. We’ll charge on the way to our accommodation, while having dinner.

Having finished the laundry and exhausted our hour of parking, we shuffled our now clean…

…clothes into the frunk, drove to the other end of town, plugged into a destination charger, and proceeded to fold our clothes and pack them into our suitcases. Life in Europe is so glamorous! Next to the charger is possibly Cluny’s main attraction: The Cluny Abbey. We felt obliged to visit it. Charging: Later that evening, I popped out for a walk from our accommodation to collect the car, which was fully charged for our trip towards Paris tomorrow.

Inching closer to Paris, we stopped overnight at a B&B in Saint-Clement.

Breakfast was a hamper delivery in the morning. Dinner was a regretted kebab from across the road. On the way to Saint Clement, we stopped at a patisserie for lunch, followed by Halloween themed cake. Charging: There was a destination charger over the road I didn’t think to use it until the next morning while we had breakfast. It was a bit of a drama to get it working, as you can tell from the screenshots.

We stopped in Cluny, France, for a couple of nights, at this B&B, hosted by Cedric.

sted by Cedric. Beautiful historic town. A few streets adorned with strings of bras, which we were told are in support of breast cancer research fund raising. Parking in the narrow cobblestone roads is a challenge. It took a couple of attempts to find somewhere that didn’t block a turning area or garage. On any road trip, the laundry eventually catches up with us. We started some machines going in the local laundrette while we enjoyed some lunch nearby. Then we laid the clean clothes in the Tesla’s frunk to sort out a bit later. Charging: No EV chargers in this historic lane. Our host chargers his Fiat in the single car driveway from a standard power point. There’s a destination charger in town, which we used while exploring the abbey (see separate post).

A brief drive through Lyon, heading north west towards Cluny and Paris.

Parking was at a premium. Then we thought to look on the Tesla navigation for an EV charger, which of course comes with parking. Great! We found one a few blocks away – an Australian brand “Tritium”. One bay way taken, so we parked in the spare bay and had a brief wander in the central park. Again, the toilets disappointed, so back to the car to get toilet paper. Again, EV chargers are easier to find than functioning toilets, in much of Europe. Charging: The first EV in Lyon hadn’t moved by the time we returned, so we checked the navigation for somewhere to charge along the highway, on our way to Cluny. The next stop was also a dud, with the available charger not working. This has been rare for us to see. The next stop worked fine.

We left our B&B, detouring on our way to Paris, to check out this “palace” suggested by…

…our hosts. What a quirky place. Built by a postman, over several decades, with no particular artistic or engineering skills. It’s kind of like a large sandcastle sculpture. Along the way, we snapped a photo next to a wind turbine. Notice how the crops are planted right up to the edge of it. A great way to keep agricultural land and still generate power. Charging: A destination charger in the car park, which was handy because this route doesn’t have many options, unlike the suggested route to Paris, on the navigation.

Day trip back towards the French Alps, along some sections of road carved into the side…

…of a mountain. Beautiful hike along the stream to a waterfall. The restaurant on the map was not a functioning option when we arrived, so we made do with snacks we happened to have in the car. The toilet turned out to be BYO toilet paper, so we became popular with other hikers when we showed up with a spare roll. Be prepared.

We followed our usual pattern: at about 4pm we looked on Booking.com for somewhere to…

…or somewhere to stay, generally in our direction of travel. We stayed at this lovely B&B house in La Tour-du-Pin, a medium sized town in France. The owner, her visiting daughter, and her young son looked after us, with breakfast and tips on local attractions. And music played on an old style record player. When we told a few locals we are from Australia, they each asked “why did you come here?” I don’t think they get many passing through 😉. For dinner, we were really needing some veggies. So, we bypassed the traditional French cuisine, and opted instead, both nights, for Asian style food from nearby “Marco Polo Cuisine du Monde”. The (French) manager was thrilled to put a second pin into Australia on his world map of visitors (pictured).

First stop (on the return northbound trip) in France.

Time for a break and afternoon tea, so we just looked in our general direction on the navigation map for something random worth the stop. Waterfall and cafe – perfect! This cafe’s decorations showed that Halloween is surprisingly big in random places across Europe. Crepes with sugar frosting. Mum: I think your crepes are better 😋. We spotted another EV parked there too – a Porsche Taycan, which costs about three to four times our Tesla. Charging: No EV charger here. We charged earlier while stopping for a cuppa, just before we crossed the border from Italy.

Leaving Italy. So many toll booths, with different systems.

Some give you a ticket to insert at the other end, then pay. Some require payment up front with a tap on. Some don’t do tap on, so you have to use a physical card. Different booths for different payments. We reversed out of a few. Not a fan. After that, we turned on “Avoid Toll Roads” in the navigation. The most expensive toll of the whole trip was leaving Italy through a long tunnel to France. This toll booth was actually staffed. When he said “€55”, I asked “Is that just for this road?” Yes it was. The cafe had very little. We settled for a croissant and cuppa. We passed on the pokies. French/Italian alps along the way. Beautiful scenery. Charging: We plugged into the Tesla Superchargers just before the border crossing tunnel, while grabbing a cuppa. A couple of trucks had almost ICEd our access, but we managed to do some reverse precision driving around them.

October 17 - 22: We stayed for a few nights in a flat, 40 minutes from Rome.

Great view from the balcony. Our hosts Antonio and Roberta were lovely. They live in the flat on the ground floor. We had several conversations through the Google Translate app. For the first time, our accommodation included an adapter for Australian plugs. They even brought up their microwave for us to use. Dinners in our flat included: 1. The first night, when we arrived, we were a bit wrecked. So, cereal for dinner. 2. Francis cooked up a delicious veg pasta, which, thanks to the microwave, fed us two nights. 3. Tom tracked down a local pizza shop and ordered a dessert from the menu. The pizza was great. The “dessert” turned out to be spinach and chili something, which was inedible. Definitely failed with the translation there. Charging: Parking was on the street. No EV charger here, but a few options nearby. Well just charge when the opportunity arises.

We headed north from Lucca, stopping on the coast at the little town of Lerici, for a…

…cuppa and a stretch. The toilet at the cafe was just a seat over a hole in the floor, so we looked elsewhere. The public toilet required coins, but after coins failed, a local told just that you can just open the door. BYO toilet paper. Charging: Much easier to find a charger than a toilet. We stopped along the highway near Ronco Scrivia and grabbed some lunch while the car connected to fast charging.

We found this lovely B&B in the Italian countryside, just past Alessandria.

Our host, Greta, was equally lovely, making our breakfast and having a good chat. She confessed that part of this was procrastination over study 😉. Charging: No EV charging here, but we charged earlier along the highway.

We explored the walled town of Lucca.

Charging: Free car parking at a nearby charger. Nice.

Possibly the best thing about visiting the Leaning Tower of Pisa is seeing how many…

…people pose for a photo to hold it up. Charging: We looked for a nearby EV charger on the Chargemap app, and found one within a short walk of the tower. As a bonus, the parking is free at the charger, but paid in the other spots. The Enel X system was again a bit of a hurdle. I started to resort to trying the website, but eventually discovered that I just need to hold the payment card on the machine for longer.

Starting our return northward journey, from Rome towards Lucca, near Pisa.

We turned on “Avoid Toll Roads” and took some rural roads near the west coast of Italy. We stumbled across this cute little cafe in the middle of nowhere, with a family of welcoming cats. Charging: Right next to the cafe was a bank of Tesla Superchargers, so our EV filled up while we had a coffee.

We grabbed a few glimpses of the Mediterranean Sea as we drove north along the Italian…

…Coast, towards Lucca, near Pisa. Charging: On the map, a charger near the coast looked like a good place to stretch our legs. On arrival, it was in a shopping center car park, not near anything interesting. I had a stretch, short charge, and we kept going. The UFODRIVE app warned us that we have exceeded the 5000km included with our rental. I underestimated our total Europe driving by about 40%.