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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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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…
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Harkening back to my motorcycle days, enjoying the endless curves along the Bonang Road…
…from Tubbut to Orbost, Victoria, leaving the Snowy Mountains. The Tesla handled the drive beautifully. FSD off, for some driving fun. I had to watch out for quite a few sharp dips, barely marked with crayon width paint on the road. This road has stopping spaces specifically for motorcycles (pictured). Yesterday, I grabbed some groceries in Bombala and noticed the "Welcomes Motorcyclists" sign. Before we bought our first EV in 2022, we did a lot of motorcycle road trips. As you can see from the photos from a decade ago, we haven't aged at all! 😉. I'd love to see some "Welcomes EVs" signs in regional places. My stay last night in Tubbut was thanks, in part, to the simple EV changer provided by Gippsland Climate Change Network. They are on to something! Charging: I'm planning to stop for a break and grab lunch in Orbost. I'll charge at the fast charger while the car is parked anyway.
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Heading south, out of the Snowy Mountains, from my overnight camp near Tubbut, towards…
…Orbost. Beautiful mist topped mountains, after last night’s rain. After about 20km of dirt road, I spotted tar, and another sign warning that there’s no petrol around here. Charging: I charged earlier this morning in Tubbut, while having breakfast and a shower. Great facilities for such a remote location. It’s only a slow charger, which topped me up 40% battery. I generally only charge while parked anyway, rather than waiting around. The navigation says I’ll get to Orbost with 11% charge, which is fine. There’s a fast charger there for me to use while I have lunch. Disappointingly, the Tesla’s Trip Planner doesn’t recognise the Chargefox charger in Orbost as a charging destination, so doesn’t realise that will give me enough to get home. It tried to reroute me the long way around, south east through Cann River, where there is a Tesla Supercharger. I have played this game before, so I just turned off “Trip Planner” to force it to take me directly through Orbost.
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Car camping in my Tesla, beside a creek, off the beaten track in the Snowy Mountains.
It took me a while to find the site. Earlier, in my search, I pulled off onto two tracks that ended up in someone’s property. At least it gave some local kids an excuse to run outside to see what the UFO sound was I did a three point just outside their gate. I waved and grinned. A cup of tea and a snack from my Teraglide drawer, sitting in my camp chair, watching the bush life. Until the bush life started eating me (just a few bugs), signaling time for bed. I again wished I had remembered to pack a collapsible stool, to help climb into the back of the car. Followed by the commando crawl to get on top of the Snuuzu mattress and Teraglide platform. This is the highest sleeping option, which gives lots of storage space and a very comfortable bed. The only down side is requiring more effort getting in and out. Once I’m in, it’s great with plenty of room to move. Please forgive the “Tesla Tripping – after dark” photos. Hopefully it helps give a real world idea of the space inside. Sleeping…
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Wow, possibly the best amenities for a road trip, at this spot in the middle of nowhere…
…(in the Snowy Mountains). Seats and tables, beautiful location, playground, water, toilets, WiFi. Even has a shower and laundry tubs. Oh, and a pizza oven. Hard to beat! Gotta love the various signs on the amenities (see photos). Thanks to Gippsland Climate Change Network and Chargefox for the destination EV charger here. It’s probably the only public fuel source (of and kind) for over 100km. There are no shops or food outlets here. Fortunately, I grabbed some supplies when passing through Bombala and Cooma, over the past few days. Instant kitchen: pop the Tesla tailgate, pull out the Teraglide drawer and table, flip up the lid to reveal the fridge in the sub trunk. After a couple of hours to eat and chill, off to find a campsite for the night, nearby along the river. I’ll come back in the morning to use the shower. Charging: The EV charger here is just AC single phase, 7kW. That’s much skewer thana fast charger, but enough to give me 14kWh (about 23%) in the two hours I was parked…
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Creekside stop in Delegate.
Pop the tailgate, pull out the kitchen drawer and dining table, grab some sustenance from the fridge. Chilling in the shade, on my collapsible camp chair. Nice. Right next to a camp site, complete with amenities. I need to find a campsite for tonight, but I’ll go further south west. Charging: No EV chargers around here. But plenty of power points, if I was desperate and staying a few hours. No petrol nearby either, according to the sign (pictured). Links:
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Heading further across the high plains in the Snowy Mountains.
Not a lot of trees around, but a few wind turbines and windmills, not bothering the livestock or mobs of kangaroos.
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No petrol, no worries.
The small town of Dalgety has no working petrol station. The last working bowser I passed yesterday was about 50km away in Cooma, along with the nearest fast EV charger. But Dalgety does have hundreds of power points, including the powered camp sites at Snowy River Holiday Park. I could have used any one of them to fill up my car. It’s a beautiful spot. I car camped there last night. This morning, I pushed the Teraglide kitchen drawer back in, pressed the Deflate button on my Snuuzu mattress, flipped back the top (pictured), and moved the drivers seat back into my preferred position by hitting the Restore button in the Tesla. Super quick transformation, ready to drive on to the next camp site today. Snuuzu mattress: https://www.snuuzu.com/?bg_ref=4fKkJb495B&country=AU Discount code: TRIPPING
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Good morning! Time for breakfast, after a great night’s sleep in the Tesla.
“Siri, open Tesla boot”. The tailgate opens to reveal a beautiful day, beyond my bare feet. Breakfast mode: 1. Pull out the Teraglide drawer and table. 2. Flip open the Teraglide rear lid. It’s assisted by gas struts, so it’s easy to lift and stays up, even with bedding on top of it. 3. Open the fridge in the subtrunk to get brekky supplies. This morning, that’s eggs, butter and milk. 4. Use the kitchen drawer bits to crack and whisk the eggs, add milk, soak some bread, ready to make French toast. 5. Stroll over to the camp kitchen. Fry the toast and boil some water for my thermos. Return to the Tesla. Enjoy my French toast, with a cuppa tea, overlooking the Snowy River. Nice. Links: Snuuzu: https://www.snuuzu.com/?bg_ref=4fKkJb495B&country=AU Discount code: TRIPPING
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Photo op in Bredbo, before stopping in Cooma to figure out where to camp tonight.
On the way, I used the Tesla’s navigation to search for “campground” and similar. One option was The NRMA park in Jindabyne. I tapped the phone icon, to make a call. Handy to do it all from the car’s controls. Unfortunately, all their powered and unpowered sites were booked for tonight. This looked like a job for WikiCamps. Since Tesla doesn’t support Apple CarPlay, I needed to pull over to use my phone. Whenever parking, I aim to charge, so I don’t lose any time. So, I pulled into the new-ish Tesla Superchargers in Cooma. This is the second site in Cooma, with more chargers and faster speed. But the only service nearby seemed to be KFC (again 🤔). No matter, I just wanted time to access my phone. Snowy River Holiday Park looks great. I rang them, gave them my ETA, entered it into the navigation, added Cooma Coles as the first destination, so I could grab some supplies. Cooma Coles also has Tesla Superchargers, but fewer and a bit slower. It does have Coles and more amenities, so I…
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Dinner next to the Snowy River.
I grabbed soup and butter from the fridge in the sub trunk. Heated the soup and toasted bread at the camp kitchen. Enjoyed the simple meal as the sun set, listening to the river. Happy place. My 35L Kings fridge is in the sub trunk. It’s powered by the car’s 16V supply, with an outlet available in the boot and driver’s console. The 16V in turn is powered by the car’s massive 60kWh battery. No need to run an engine, with noise and fumes, to keep it going. Charging: I charged up the car battery earlier today, while parked in Cooma. The hosts here at Snowy River Holiday Park confirmed that in a powered site, I could have plugged in the EV to charge. I instead elected an unpowered site, since it was a nicer spot, closer to the river.
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Setting up the Teraglide platform and Snuuzu mattress in the Tesla Model Y.
Steps: 1. Folded back seats down, using the buttons in the Tesla. 2. Slid the interleaved top of the Teraglide platform onto the folded down rear seats. 3. Moved the front seats forward. 4. Unfolded the top hinged bit of the Teraglide. 5. Clipped on the side supports of the Terglide, near the doors. 6. Placed the Snuuzu mattress bag on the Teraglide platform. 7. Unzipped the bag, unrolled the Snuuzu mattress. Unclipped the mattress and opened it up flat. 8. Pressed the `Inflate` button on the mattress. Waited a minute for it to finish, then turned it off. 9. Added bed linen, blanket and pillow. Gotchas: 1. Teraglide (the business) had warned me, after seeing earlier photos of my installation a few months ago, that I had neglected to strap down the front of the Teraglide. With this in mind, I brought along the supplied straps, but I hadn’t yet installed them. When I fully extended the kitchen drawer without anything weighing down on top of the platform, the drawer started to tip over,…
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Just me, the Tesla, and some brown snakes, along Lake George, near Canberra, on the way…
…to The Snowy Mountains.
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A quick shop at Erina Fair, on the NSW Central Coast, before heading south to The Snowy…
…Mountains, where I will car camp tonight. Charging: Since I’m parking for a few minutes anyway, I connected to one of the newish Evie DC chargers in the Erina Fair carpark. Previously, the only public charging option around here was the Tesla destination chargers in the next car park. Those are free, slower (11kW) than fast chargers, in an awkward parking spot, most often busy, sometimes ICEd. Using the Evie chargers is a breeze – just park and plug in. Since I’ve already setup “AutoCharge”, the system recognises my car without needing to use an app or credit card. The max charge rate seems to be 75kW if I’m the only one at the “bowser”, but reduces to 50kW if another is also in use. Perhaps as low as 25kW if all four are in use? Even when mine was nearly finished and only drawing 6kW, the next charger was limited to 50kW until I stopped.
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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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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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After crossing Kosciusko National Park, we checked into The Jindy Inn last night.
Great place with a balcony overlooking Lake Jindabyne. The room’s fridge had no freezer which meant we couldn’t refreeze our cold packs for our cooler bag. We didn’t bring the giant Kings Fridge on this trip. No microwave oven in the room, so we drove down the road to The Brumby Bar & Bistro to share a Brumby Burger (presumably not made from brumbies). Delicious! The inn included continental breakfast in the dining room. After slightly burning my finger on the reluctant conveyor belt toaster, I enjoyed autumn colour themed fruit salad and Greek yogurt on my cereal. After checkout, we grabbed a coffee from ESS BOARDSTORES, where they were happy to use our lactose free milk, from our cooler bag, since they didn’t stock that option. The cold temperature lowered the tyre pressures, as you can see on the Tesla’s screen. But they soon warmed up as we hit the road. Next, on to Cooma and then Gerringong. Charging: No power points in the car park at the inn, unfortunately. When we drove up the…
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Francis explored Birdsnest while Tom explored the back streets of Cooma, including Nanny…
…Goat Hill Lookout. Lunch at The Lott Cafe, then onwards towards Gerringong. Charging: We fully charged last night in Jindabyne while stopped for dinner. No need to charge today, although we could have used the Tesla Superchargers in the center of Cooma.
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Brief stop for toilet and a thermos cup of tea at Googong Dam, in the ACT, just outside…
…of Canberra. Nice quiet spot for a stretch. Lots of new housing up the road, sadly with dark roofs and few trees. Charging: We charged last night in Jindabyne. We’re aiming for Gerringong or Thirroul today. We’re disabled “Trip Planner” to stop the Tesla routing us through the Superchargers in Queanbeyan. So, it now shows arrival in Thirroul at -2%. We’ll charge wherever we park next, along the way.
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Last night, we stayed in Mansfield, Victoria.
The Mansfield Motel is conveniently a short walk to everything. Friendly reception. Our only complaint was that the hot water pressure was woeful. Oh, and the power points next to the bed touch the floor (why do electricians do that?), so you can’t plug in a power pack for laptop, phone etc. But that’s just being picky 😉. Like most of the areas we’ve been through this week, Mansfield is decorated by beautiful autumn trees, in shades of green, yellow, orange and red. The main street is split, with a park in the middle and a roundabout adorned with flowers. For dinner, we grabbed Indian takeaway from Curry Garden. For breakfast, we had toast and spreads. I mention this so you know that most of our road trip meals aren’t from fancy cafes 😉. After we checked out this morning, we grabbed a coffee at The Mansfield Coffee Merchant, 100m away. We drove off towards Kosciusko National Park, crossing the border into NSW, aiming to get to Jindabyne tonight. Charging: We asked about charging at…
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Down to the core of our mission 😉: to see if my thermos lid is still on the garden stake…
…where I accidentally left it half a year ago, in the middle of Kosciusko National Park. We left our lunch stop in Myrtleford and drove through to Corryong, on the western side of the Great Dividing Range. One last stop there for a quick toilet break and a stretch before takling the mountains. Oh, and a symbolic thermos lid of tea (in our second thermos). It would be dark soon, so we needed to get to Tom Groggin while there was still a glimmer of daylight by which we could search for the missing thermos lid. As you might have guessed and as probability and time would dictate, the first thermos lid was nowhere to be found. We took a photo of the replacement on the stake as a reenactment. It’s now time to move on. We continued east, past Thredbo and Mount Kosciusko, towards Jindabyne where we would stay the night. The mountains are beautiful. No snow on this trek through. Dusk brought out the wildlife along the way. Several brumbies, deer and kangaroos had a quizzical look at our car…
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We popped in to see Kylie, Aaron, their family, pets and newly wrapped “Tarquin” the…
…Tesla, in its burnt orange glory. We first met them (back when Tarquin was white) nearly a year ago when we were road tripping towards Cairns (and the Daintree). Since then, Kylie has been following along on our blog, making suggestions along the way. They kindly invited us for some afternoon tea today ☺️. The finished edges of Tarquin’s wrap are impressively neat. Our Tesla is basically the same, except ours is wrapped in bugs and thousands of kilometres of road dust. Francis was ready to adopt a few of the pets. We considered charging in the garage, but the pricing (made especially for us) was too high 😉. We stayed overnight in a motel in Mackay, which turned out to be right under the flight path, next to the airport. It was amusing, rather than annoying, until perhaps the 6am wake up call of what seemed to be a truck on our roof. Charging: Next morning, we stopped at the fast (ish) DC charger in Mackay. Francis takes great delight in plugging it in successfully after it doesn’t…
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Monday morning: We visited the Snowy Hydro Discovery Centre.
Very interesting wide screen video presentation, models, and other exhibits. Amazing how we can generate electricity from rainfall and melting snow. Charging: The EV chargers on site are very convenient and are powered by hydro. We filled up for under $12.
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Venturing from Corryong to Khancoban, we decided to keep going east, through the Snowy…
…Mountains along the Alpine Way, past Thredbo to Jindabyne. The road has signs that require all two wheel drive cars to carry snow chains. So we hired some from Khancoban, which could be returned in Jindabyne (“one way hire”). In the end, we never actually had to fit them, since all the roads were cleared. We stopped a few times along the way, including a rest stop next to the origin of the Murray River (pictured). I left the cap/cup from my thermos on one of the garden border markers near the toilet block, so I wouldn’t drop it as we clambered down to the river. But I forgot about it as we walked back to the car and drove off 🤦♂️. If you happen to be driving past Mount Kosciusko, please keep an eye out for it 😉. We returned the snow chains on the other side of Mount Kosciusko at in Jindabyne. The service stations were packed with people queuing for petrol, I guess on the last day of the school holidays. Charging: Our last serious charge was back in Yackandandah. We topped up about…
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Time for another road trip!
Should we head west (towards Broken Hill or maybe Adelaide) or east (through Bright and maybe Jindabyne)? We need to end up on the NSW Central Coast by Tuesday 18th July. Leaving Melbourne this Friday morning (probably). We also need to find accommodation in the Central Coast for a week or two from July 18th. So, if you know anyone who needs house sitting or similar, please let us know ☺️
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Final leg of The Alpine Way past Murray 1 Power Station, part of the Snowy Hydro electric…
…scheme. “One of the seven engineering wonders of the world” which “provides 11% of the [national electric grid]”. Coming down the west side of The Great Dividing Range, the car added 7% charge from the regenerating (going down a hill puts power back into the battery). Then along the Murray Valley Highway beside Tallagatta Creek (which appears to have been dammed).
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Today we drove through Thredbo and Dead Horse Gap, as we started along The Alpine Way.
Beautiful scenery and fluctuating temperatures. No petrol for two hours, but there is electricity here and there.
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Morning açai bowl and fruit toast at Jindabyne, before heading west along The Alpine Way.
And, yes, Francis’s white top did not survive unscathed.
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Staying the night at The Panorama in Jindabyne Snowy Mountains.
Pleasant surprise: free on site Tesla destination chargers (one working) and a double rainbow! 🌈 🌈 Unpleasant surprise: no bare feet allowed 👣 🚫
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A quick charge at Cooma, while we looked on line for a place to stay the night.
Then the final leg through alpine country towards our accommodation in Jindabyne.
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Manoeuvred my way around the bollards with a three point turn again, at the RACQ…
…Chargefox charger. Chatted briefly with Scott (before me in a blue Tesla Model 3 with bikes on a rack) and Patty afterwards. Patty is today moving with his dogs up from The Sunshine Coast to Port Douglas. His wife is driving another Tesla. They are planning to “hippy-fy” their new place with EV chargers for guests.
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We waited for another Tesla Model 3, which was at 99% for ages when we got there, not…
…checked in, in PlugShare. Then had a chat with Linda and Louis who arrived a while later, in their Audi e-tron. They had travelled from Wollongong, passing through Port Douglas. We agreed that we need more than one RACQ Chargefox fast charger in these locations. The layout of this charger is great: easy to park; can charge from either side; near shopping and toilets.
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We stopped in at Mossman Gorge in the Daintree.
Visitors have to park at the center, then catch a shuttle bus to the gorge, then walk a nice 640m boardwalk to the popular river spot. The centre includes a cafe, toilets, gift shop and ticket counter. It’s pretty but seems to be a large overhead for a fairly standard river view, with room at the gorge for a limited number of visitors. There is a longer 2km walk, but we didn’t try it. They advise not to swim, but half the people do. We found out later that a couple of tourists were swept away by the river, prompting a search. Charging: The car park has a type 2 charger, but you need to bring your own cable. It’s only 7kW, but would be handy if you were staying for a few hours (and you had the type 2 cable, which we didn’t). We had more than enough charge, but it would have been handy to charge the car while it was just sitting there, anyway.
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We made it to the northernmost point of our road trip: Cape Tribulation.
Lush vegetation, lots of wildlife if you look closely. The ocean is eerie – it’s hard to tell where it ends and the sky begins. It’s so very humid in summer. Great little cafe/kiosk where we were staying. But we also cooked our meals in the camp kitchen. There’s no grid power here, north of the Daintree River, so the Safari Lodge and Campground (our accommodation) and other places all run on diesel generators. The generator supplies the electricity for the powered sites, cabins, lights, kiosk, washing machines, everything. A few places have solar panels. There are plans for a micro-grid to get rid of the diesel generators. I'm surprised that they don't have more solar here, but it is coming Charging: We didn’t want to plug in and add to the diesel burning, so we just used the Tesla’s battery energy until we returned to the grid south of the river a few days later.
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We crossed the Daintree River on the ferry.
Notice on the other side of the river the toddler that seems to be driving a car from the sunroof. Charging: We last charged up the car at Port Douglas. This will be enough for a few days while we explore the Daintree Rainforest in the other side of the river.
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Charged up for the trip to Daintree.
Managed to beat Kylie and Aaron this time, who resorted to the slow 11kW charger next to us, until we finished. Enjoyed a delicious coffee and an ice block with fruit in it at AQUA Cairns Lagoon cafe. Tried to block a photo of me in portrait 🤪.
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We charged up at Cardwell (south of Cairns).
We initially queued behind Aaron and Kylie in their Tesla Model 3 (Mackay to Cairns). While waiting, we drove up the road to buy lunch from a cafe, under “The Big Crab”. When we returned, we queued behind Vijay and his family in their MG (Port Douglas to Brisbane). We ate our lunch the pretty park next to the charger, whilst avoiding swimming and being eaten ourselves by crocodiles. Charging: The next charger in Tully is faulted, according to the RACQ Chargefox app. We had to queue twice, because there is no central queuing app. The ChargeFox app shows when the charger is in use, but not who’s waiting or how long they’ll be there. They weren’t using PlugShare, which at least shows who is waiting and notifies you when someone finishes. We need to solve this issue.
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We might be a little bit crazy.
We moved out of our home, sold what we could, moved the rest into storage, and set off road tripping in our Tesla Model 3. It’s the cheapest, smallest Tesla, with RWD (rear wheel drive), LFP battery and about 430km range. It runs on electricity. No petrol, oil, smell, noise etc. We’ve only had it three months. We have a bed that fits the back of the Tesla from Tessories Australia, a Carsule tent from MOGICS, a huge 50L camp fridge, camp chairs and other gear from KILOS GEAR. When we can’t find accommodation, the Tesla will be our home for the night. We were living on the NSW Central Coast, in Saratoga. All of our kids have grown and moved out. We need to downsize and reset. But, for the moment, we are without a home, other than the Tesla. We had only booked accommodation for our first two nights, in Port Stephens. We’re just winging it from there. The rough plan is to then head west through Mudgee and Dubbo, then up through Tamworth and Armidale, then up through Queensland to Airlie…
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We packed the essentials into our electric car (Tesla Model 3) and set out to explore the…
…east coast of Australia, out to Dubbo, up through Queensland to Cape Tribulation, down from Mackay to Bega and along the south Victorian coast, Great Ocean Road, The Grampians and much more. Last lunch before we go, courtesy of Shelly's Cafe. Somehow we managed to fit all of that (including 50L fridge, bed, chairs, tent, food, clothes, computers) into the smallest car that Tesla make.
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.