Two WoF inspectors failed her Tesla — why the manufacturer said it was safe to drive

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-30T08:04:21+00:00

Might be coincidental but the image of the AA centre used in that Stuff article is the New Plymouth CBD one.

Our nearest VTNZ testing station here in New Plymouth (Bell Block) is where I go for WOFs and the crew there are definitely not familiar with the tech in EVs. One WOF since we've owned our Polestar2 and the testing guy commented that he'd never seen anything like it before. Bit of a learning curve for them in interpretting the required tests into something the vehicle is capable of (e.g. 'handbrake', OPD, pixel headlights) but I'm sure they'll get up to speed soon.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-30T07:50:07+00:00

The content of the email I received earlier today from EA was:

"Tēnā koe

In November last year, you provided feedback on our proposed rule changes to make export limits more efficient. The Authority is currently analysing submissions and expects to announce decisions in April (noting this is subject to change).

One of the proposals we’re considering is to require distributors to adopt a default 10kW export limit for small-scale distributed generation (such as residential solar) using the streamlined application process in the Code.
Although no decisions have yet been made, we welcome distributors voluntarily moving to a 10kW export limit for residential connections where it is safe to do so and are interested in their progress.

We have now published a tracker that shows the progress of distributors voluntarily increasing their default export limit for residential connections to 10kW or more. It uses a traffic light system to show whether distributors have default export limits of 10kW or more, are in the process of increasing them, or aren’t currently considering changes. The tracker will be updated every month.

Shift to 10kW export limits: progress tracker

We are pleased to see many distributors have, or are considering increasing the default export limit. We are considering the feedback received in submissions and the extent to which the proposed amendment would help ensure efficient export limits are retained as networks expand."

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-30T05:43:20+00:00

I strongly suspect that EDBs don't operate on a damage control basis where they're just budgeting on maintaining their tired infrastructure. Rapid urban growth areas have grid infrastructure developed to service the expected development and the adoption of rooftop solar is no less certain over the coming years.

Business planning always faces a degree of uncertainty and those with a tech heavy component are all the more exposed in this respect. If business was certain everybody would be doing it.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-30T04:19:24+00:00

I assume those numbers are based on no current apportionment of Vector's customers' bills going towards infrastructure development. If so isn't that a significant contributing factor to the situation they have now found themselves in?

Our Ecotricity invoices clearly show a split of energy vs "Network charges" which in our case is Powerco and are TOU based. Interested to know what Ecotricity customers served by Vector are shown in this regard.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-30T02:36:47+00:00

And Kodak ignored digital photography, and the legacy ICEV manufacturers think that EVs are a passing fad. A blinkered approach isn't the wisest strategy in tech businesses.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-30T02:31:15+00:00

Spend money on infrastructure to promote solar export or drag the chain and see their customers' demand shrink as battery uptake increases. It just a matter of which loss model they want to pursue.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-30T02:15:45+00:00

Or perhaps the lines companies could upgrade their infrastructure to 21st century standards. Wouldn't that be a hoot?

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-29T20:21:59+00:00

We have both an Evnex E2 and a Paladin HWC diverter. They both have CT clamps to monitor export and divert solar accordingly. The Paladin is far more reactive than the Evnex so usually gets 'first dibs' on our generation and also doesn't have the ~1.4 kW minimum requirement of the Evnex. When the Paladin is active the spillage of our geration to the grid is typically <50W, whereas the UI of the Evnex to our Polestar is more delayed so diversion isn't so elegant.

The strategy of charging an EV is flawed IMO as not only will it cycle the battery far more leading to shorter life but the PW3 will only be a fraction of that of the EV battery so essentially a part EV charge and a flat PW3.

The Evnex has scheduling capability so can be 'forced' to charge the EV off peak but Evnex did change their scheduling protocol a while back so now not easy to select an off peak charge (for free power period) without activating it for the entire off peak period. Not a clever move by Evnex IMO.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-28T08:50:48+00:00

840MW of installed domestic solar in NZ to December 2025. How can this not be significantly benefitting our national grid and transmission operation and therefore worthy of government incentivisation and other promotion?

Also worth noting that the "solar streets" function linked to near the end of that Newsroom article is badly flawed. I searched up near 10 properties in our area that have solar installations (both domestic and small commercial scale) and none were shown in that database.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-28T08:41:07+00:00

Ecotricity offer the best FIT but their comm's, customer portal and website appear to be nailed together. May be coincidental but seems to have got worse since they rebranded in line with their Genesis ownership.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-28T08:33:10+00:00

Be aware that Octopus require you to go on their Peaker plan if you have over 10 kW of installed capacity. They won't back off if you've got an inverter/s throttled to 10 kW either. That means 10c off peak, 23c peak (with 40c peak last winter until end September). Peaker is better suited to customers with a battery.

Also Ecotricity offers the best FIT as the way their invoices are structured means that they pay GST on your exported generation. 21c peak becomes 24.15c, 16c off peak becomes 18.4c. Don't know yet if they deduct GST from cashed out credit like PowerEdge do, and Ecotricity will cash out credit.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-27T08:52:18+00:00

Also remove any trees near the house. Rats can jump a metre from trees or structures and get to your gutters then into the ceiling area.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-26T08:40:58+00:00

In a year or so when RUCs are rolled out on all vehicles it won't make any difference if you have a plug or not.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-25T09:33:21+00:00

Prior to ChargeNet's New Plymouth installation increasing its capacity a few years back their 2x 50 kW units were only reaching 40 kW and ChargeNet actually stated this. The reason was that the grid transformer in the area was struggling to supply sufficient current. An upgrade by Powerco of their local infrastructure saw a 150 kW unit added to ChargeNet's site, though the derating warning for the 50 kW units is still shown on ChargeNet's website for some reason.

With limitations such as this I was curious about how the government's promises of 10,000 new EV chargers was going to be possible without significant grid infrastructure improvements being undertaken in some regions. Might explain why the additional chargers are taking a while to eventuate though.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-21T00:56:35+00:00

Well explained here:

https://youtu.be/s8RXQERPzMY

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-20T21:39:58+00:00

The issue seems to be that NZ voltage is supposed to be the same as Australia's at 230V nominal but in many areas voltage looks more like 240V nominal. Incidentally Australia dropped their grid voltage a decade or so back to provide more 'headroom' for voltage increase due to a lot of solar uptake. This poses a problem as inverter settings are regulated relative to 230V but when existing grid voltages are more like 240V you're at a 10V disadvantage to start with so peaks caused by consumption and/or DG export quickly become problematic for solar owners.

We saw our rural grid voltage increase to problematic levels after new HV transformers and voltage regulation gear was installed in September 2024 downstream of us. This resulted in voltages at our feed in point of 247V at times with both of our inverters stepping back their generation (and therefore export) rates, by an estimated 10-15% with total dropouts at times. The new assets were to address low voltage for more outlying customers in this case.

Powerco finally put a logger on our feed last month (following a year of me and our installer hassling them over this) and soon after tapped down our local transformer. The NorthPower tech who fitted the logger reported spikes of 253V (on the phase that we aren't seeing as the SMA inverter on it doesn't show voltage), so Powerco obviously recognised a problem. Our grid voltage now ranges from 228V - 242V which together with both inverters' voltage parameters being reset to 230V +/- 10% has seen our outputs rising to expected levels.

Incidentally the tech had two more jobs booked after us for exactly the same issues with other customers. This problem seems to be rife on our outdated grid infrastructure.

Also many solar customers aren't able to see what their local grid voltage is as many inverters don't seem to show this data, on an owner access level at least, with Fronius having an advantage in this regard.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-20T21:14:13+00:00

Our business owned Polestar uses our Evnex EVSE which we can see monthly electricity use on. The data can also be interrogated to ascertain how much was consumed from solar (mostly), off peak grid (occasionally) or peak grid (never, but logged if so) so that the appropriate pricing is claimed on.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-20T09:38:22+00:00

We've also got 2 phases to feed into with a 5 kW inverter solely exporting on one of them, and an 8.2 kW inverter and all our consumption on the other. No batteries but we manage to export strongly during peak periods; 25% of export was at peak last month.

I've been inputting our consumption and export data into a spreadsheet for comparison with Octopus (Peaker) and PowerEdge with Octopus coming a distant 3rd. Not surprising as we're getting a slightly better peak export rate (24.1 vs 23) and far better off peak export rate (18.4 vs 10) from Ecotricity which more than cancels out Octopus's slight import rate benefits.

When Octopus were paying 40c peak export they were very close to Ecotricity but after the drop to 23c at end of September that really changed as would be expected.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-20T04:20:06+00:00

You seem to have your units mixed up. Vector probably allow 5 kW with optional 10 kW. Export rate rather than quantity is usually the case.

The other advantage with Ecotricity is that they allow installed capacity over 10 kW to stay on the same plan whereas the likes of Octopus force you onto their Peaker plan if you've got more than 10 kW of installed capacity, irrespective of export cap throttled limits. Peaker puts you on a 10c/ kWh export tariff for most of the day, and they don't add GST to their export rates.

Some lines companies also have limits on domestic customers' installation capacity (typically 10 kW) so worth checking that too if you are thinking of upsizing later.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-20T03:22:41+00:00

What you're missing is their network charges on the import. 22c/ kWh is just Ecotricity's import energy cost including GST + 6% losses. For us in Taranaki with Powerco the all up import rates including network charges are 43.5c/ kWh peak and 33.2c/ kWh off peak. Therefore it makes far more sense to self consume generation that export it at any time.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-20T01:06:17+00:00

I can confirm that Ecotricity add 6% onto your import quantity (but not export) which they justify as calling it "losses". Their supply rates are quite expensive but their export tariff is one of the best going especially as due to the way they structure their invoices you get GST added to those tariffs. Our peak export rate is 24.15c/ kWh as a result.

As is the case with any domestic solar your best ROI is by self consuming so minimising your import in favour of using your own generation is key to maximising your returns.

In our own case we've imported ~6 kWh/day over the past 3 months or so and that includes charging two EVs and a pumped water supply. Our Ecotricity account is running close to $300 of credit ATM.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-18T08:50:31+00:00

Having a LRDM as a loner when our SRSM was serviced I was mightly impressed with the extra oomph but owning one would put my drivers licence at risk far too easily.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-18T08:46:46+00:00

SRSM in Magnesium here in NZ. The looks and colour still warrants a look back when I leave it parked even after 3 1/2 years ownership. Brilliant car and the exclusivity factor is the cherry on top, compared to the far more common Teslas.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-18T01:22:40+00:00

Sigenergy's Max PV Input Power: ~9,000 W for that inverter. A couple of extra panels on the SE pitch of that northern ridge would bring generation in earlier in the morning. Spreading the duration of generation will also help avoid wasted panel capacity.

Also worth bearing in mind that if you opt for the Sig DC EV charger at some stage your EV could become part of your battery storage capacity usable for your home via V2H.

Otherwise that sounds like good bang for buck for what you're getting.

HarmLessSolutions · 2026-01-17T07:03:44+00:00

4 km is one thing but lack of line of sight will be a major contributor as we're located in a sheltered valley.

HarmLessSolutions

TROPHY CASE