An electric car cannot be rope towed, cannot be lifted with its driven wheels left on the road, and cannot be topped up at the roadside the way a petrol car can with a can of fuel. It travels with all four wheels on the deck, every time. When you call 01698 700970, tell us the make, model and state of charge, because on an EV those three details decide what the driver needs to bring with him.
Running out of charge is the most common call
By a distance, the job we attend most often on electric cars is not a fault at all. The car has reached zero and there is nothing to be done at the roadside. Mobile charging units exist, but they are rare, slow, and not something to plan around. In practice a flat EV gets carried to electricity rather than electricity brought to it.
That makes it one of the easier recoveries. The car is undamaged, it rolls and steers, and it goes on the flatbed to the nearest working rapid charger or to your own home charger, whichever you would rather. Say which on the phone, and tell us what the car is still reporting, because a genuine zero behaves differently from a car showing three percent.
Rapid charger coverage along the M8 and M74 corridors is decent, and it thins out fast once you head for Loch Lomond, Argyll or the upper Clyde valley. Most of the flat EVs we pick up belong to drivers who reached a charger that was out of service with nothing left to reach the next one, so it is worth planning the winter range rather than the summer one.
Why an electric car must not be towed
The motors are permanently connected to the driven wheels. There is no clutch, and no neutral in the sense a petrol car has one. Turning those wheels with the car shut down spins the motor, and a spinning motor generates current. Pushing uncontrolled current back into a high voltage system that is not awake to receive it can damage the inverter and the motor, and on most manufacturers it voids the warranty.
So there is no rope tow, no partial lift with the driven wheels down, and no rolling it any real distance. Four wheels on a deck, or skates and dollies under the driven axle for short repositioning only. The same rule applies to hybrids with electric drive on one axle.
This is the rule that gets broken, usually by a well-meaning passer-by with a strap. If someone has already dragged the car before we arrive, say so, because it changes what we tell the garage at the other end.
The twelve volt battery strands more EVs than the big one
Almost every electric car still carries an ordinary twelve volt battery under the bonnet or in the boot, and it runs the computers, the locks, the dashboard and the contactors. When that small battery dies the car is completely dead: it will not unlock, it will not power up, and it cannot close the contactors that connect the main pack, so a full traction battery is no help whatsoever.
This is a common call-out, particularly on cars that have sat for a few weeks. The fix is often a jump on the twelve volt system, which wakes the car and lets the main pack look after it from there. It is not the same procedure as jump starting a petrol car, and the jump points differ by model, which is a good reason to have it done by someone who has done it before rather than guessing with a set of leads.
Transport mode, and cars too dead to use it
Many EVs have to be put into a transport or tow mode before they will roll at all. Without it the parking pawl or the electronic brakes stay engaged and the wheels simply will not turn. Tesla is the familiar example, where the car has to be woken and switched through the touchscreen, and most other manufacturers have an equivalent buried in a menu or a sequence of pedal presses.
Our drivers check for it. Where the car is too flat to bring its screens up at all, skates go under and the car is loaded without the wheels turning a single revolution. That is the reason we ask for the make and model on the phone, and the reason a dead EV occasionally carries the £40 skate fee that a rolling car does not.
After a collision
Lithium packs deserve respect once they have taken an impact. A damaged pack can develop a fault hours or even days later, and an EV fire is dealt with very differently from a petrol one.
If your electric car has been in a significant collision, say so on the first call. It changes how we position and secure it, where we store it, and whether it needs to be kept clear of other vehicles and structures for a period afterwards. That is standard practice rather than a reason to worry, but it has to be known in advance instead of discovered on arrival.
EV recovery is priced the same as any other car: £60 call-out + £1.50 per mile locally, or £120 flat on the motorway. There is no electric vehicle surcharge. The £40 skate fee only applies where the car cannot be rolled onto the deck, which on an EV usually means a flat twelve volt battery and no transport mode.
Why choose SRL Recovery
- check_circleFlatbed as standard, all four wheels on the deck
- check_circleFlat batteries carried to a rapid charger or your own home charger
- check_circleTwelve volt jump starts, which is frequently the whole fix
- check_circleTransport mode handled, skates where the car is too flat to power up
- check_circleCollision-damaged packs positioned and stored accordingly
- check_circle24/7 across Glasgow and Central Scotland, no out-of-hours surcharge
Common questions
Can you jump start an electric car?
The twelve volt battery can be jumped, and on a car that has gone completely dead that is often the entire fix. The main traction battery cannot be jump started, it needs charging, so if that is what is flat the car goes on the flatbed to a charger.
Can my EV be towed just a short distance?
Not on its driven wheels. Short repositioning is done on skates or dollies, and any real distance is done on a flatbed. Turning the driven wheels with the car shut down can damage the inverter and motor and will void most manufacturer warranties.
I have run out of charge. Where will you take the car?
Wherever you prefer, the nearest working rapid charger or your own home charger. Tell us which when you call, and tell us the state of charge the car is still reporting if it will report anything at all.
Can you bring a mobile charger out to me instead?
No, and we would rather say so than have you wait on one. Mobile charging units are rare and slow, and transporting the car to a charger is quicker in almost every case. That is what we do.
Does recovering an electric car cost more?
No. Same £60 local call-out and £1.50 per mile, same £120 motorway flat rate, no out-of-hours surcharge. The only extra that turns up more often on EVs is the £40 skate fee, and only when the car is too dead to roll onto the deck.
Do you recover EVs after an accident?
Yes. Tell us on the call that it is electric and that it has been in a collision, because a damaged battery pack is positioned, transported and stored differently from an undamaged one.