When an electric car gets a flat tire, runs out of charge, or experiences any other kind of mechanical problem that renders it undrivable, you may be tempted to hook it up to another vehicle and drag it down the road. But as it turns out, that might not be the best move.
You can’t tow an electric vehicle if it breaks down because that can damage the motor and other components. Towing requires a “true” neutral gear, which electric cars lack. Some electric cars have tow mode, but that’s only meant to be used to load the vehicle onto a flatbed.
Read on to learn more about why you shouldn’t tow an electric car, the correct way to transport one if it breaks down, what to consider, the precautions to take, and more. Let’s dive in!
Towing an electric car can damage the motor and other components. That goes for all-electric cars, including those with a Tow Mode like Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric.
According to Volvo’s guidelines, the Tow Mode is only meant to let you roll the car onto a flatbed so that you don’t have to drag it down the road after a breakdown. The manufacturer advises against any form of transport that causes any wheels to roll on the ground.
Tesla has a “tow mode,” albeit in a different name: the Transport Mode. Regardless of the name, the consensus is the same: Even with Tow or Transport modes on, the car shouldn’t be transported with the wheels touching the ground.
Tesla even goes a step further to prevent you from towing your EV and damaging it. Per Tesla model 3’s transportation instructions, the tires are only allowed to spin for less than 10 m (32.81 ft) at 5 km/h (3.11 mph), barely the speed and distance required to winch the car onto a flatbed or pull it out of the parking lot to reposition it.
We wrote a helpful article about the Pros and Cons of Tesla Towing. Check it out if this applies to your situation. You might find some tricks.
So far, we’ve established that you shouldn’t tow an electric car because doing so can damage the motor and other internal components. What we’re yet to cover is what causes the damage.
The reason towing electric cars damages the motor, and other components is that EVs lack a “true” neutral mode, a must-have for any vehicle to be towed safely over significant distances.
In a gas-powered vehicle, shifting to neutral gear disconnects the engine from the drivetrain (which connects the wheels to the engine), allowing the vehicle to move freely without rotating engine or transmission components. This way, towing only rolls wheels, helping prevent damage to the engine or transmission.
That isn’t necessarily the case with an electric car because its neutral works differently. Selecting neutral in an electric car doesn’t disengage the motor (i.e., the “engine” in an electric car) from the wheels.
In this sense, the neutral mode on an electric car doesn’t function like a “true neutral.” In fact, these cars don’t even have an actual neutral gear. The N selection you see on the gear selector pad is only meant to disconnect the motor from the control system so you can roll the car onto/off a flatbed or other similar surface for repair and maintenance.
So when you tow an electric car in neutral mode, the wheels spin the motor with every turn, causing all kinds of damage. The risk of motor damage is especially high for electric cars with a liquid cooling system. In such electric cars, turning the wheels when towing engages the motor at high RPM and overheats it to destruction.
The safest way to tow an electric car for whatever reason would be to use a flatbed. Sure, it might not necessarily be “towing” per se, but it’s the recommended method for transporting broken-down electric cars.
Don’t believe me? Take a closer look at your car’s owner manual; you’ll find a flatbed as the recommended “towing” method.
Even though a flatbed is the safest way to transport a broken-down electric car, you need to take care to avoid damaging the vehicle when loading and unloading it.
While you might not be the person doing the loading and unloading, it helps to know the correct way so you can call out your tow service providers if they’re doing things wrong.
Here’s a handy YouTube video on how to safely load and unload a car from a flatbed:
