Jump to content


Photo

Can An Electric Vehicle Be Towed?


  • Please log in to reply
12 replies to this topic

#1 mab01uk

mab01uk

    Moved Into The Garage

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 11,779 posts
  • Local Club: Mini Cooper Register

Posted 19 September 2020 - 07:09 PM

The reason I ask is local to me a main road was closed yesterday for several hours by the Police causing traffic chaos, because an electric car had a minor accident/broken down (or run out of charge?) in a dangerous position and could not be towed out of the way because with the electrics shut down it needed to be lifted from the road by recovery lorry as the wheels wouldn’t turn and not covered by warranty! The recovery vehicle also has to be suitable to deal with weighty battery packs. Apparently many car makers state that EV's can’t be towed because it could damage their motors; they need to be lifted up completely if they need transporting.

 



#2 greenwheels

greenwheels

    Super Mini Mad

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 672 posts
  • Location: Gloucestershire
  • Local Club: Mini Fixers

Posted 19 September 2020 - 07:12 PM

Serious design error!!!

Court case - yer' 'onor, my client was injured because the electric car could not be towed away quick enough before it caused other serious accidents where my client received serious injury. We claim £1000000000 compensation.


Edited by greenwheels, 19 September 2020 - 07:17 PM.


#3 Cooperman

Cooperman

    Uncle Cooperman, Voted Mr TMF 2011

  • TMF+ Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 23,014 posts
  • Location: Cambs.
  • Local Club: MCR, HAMOC, Chelmsford M.C.

Posted 19 September 2020 - 10:51 PM

Another good reason for not buying into the electric car scene.

I was speaking to someone who has a frien who has an electric car. He drove from north of London to Cornwell and it took 15 hours one way. Re-charging was a nightmare and he ran out of charge when a charging point was not working.

I'll stick with my 3-litre diesel BMW and my old Land-Rover Discovery. Last year I went to Stirling, in Scotland, to collect a Mini with my big trailer. It was 361 miles each way. I did it non-stop with a friend and we only stopped for one refuelling, and 3 meal/snack breaks. It took 16 hours in total. You sure as hell won't be doing that in a leccy car any time soon.



#4 nicklouse

nicklouse

    Moved Into The Garage

  • TMF+ Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 17,900 posts
  • Location: Not Yorkshire
  • Local Club: Anonyme Miniholiker

Posted 19 September 2020 - 10:56 PM

Another good reason for not buying into the electric car scene.

I was speaking to someone who has a frien who has an electric car. He drove from north of London to Cornwell and it took 15 hours one way. Re-charging was a nightmare and he ran out of charge when a charging point was not working.

I'll stick with my 3-litre diesel BMW and my old Land-Rover Discovery. Last year I went to Stirling, in Scotland, to collect a Mini with my big trailer. It was 361 miles each way. I did it non-stop with a friend and we only stopped for one refuelling, and 3 meal/snack breaks. It took 16 hours in total. You sure as hell won't be doing that in a leccy car any time soon.

Sorry sounds more like people trying to use their cars out of the design parameters. Use them in their parameters and have a good charge plan at home and they can be very good and cost peanuts to run. Start looking a longer distances then you have issues.



#5 Curley

Curley

    Speeding Along Now

  • TMF+ Member
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 466 posts
  • Location: Basingstoke, Hampshire
  • Local Club: Not MINI friendly

Posted 20 September 2020 - 03:13 AM

Technically we can't tow the Mini with the front wheel on the ground either. ​EV have no gearbox to engage Neutral with. 

 

Some EV's are 4 wheel independent motors. Most are only 2 wheel drive and as such can be towed just the same as other front wheel drive car on a dolly.

 

I'll bet you the' EV's can't be towed' is a policy created off the back of a few claims for expensive 4 wheel driven Teslas. Cheaper to have people sit in traffic than it was for the recovery agent to pay for a new EV.


Edited by Curley, 20 September 2020 - 03:13 AM.


#6 RustyAutoCityE

RustyAutoCityE

    Speeding Along Now

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 320 posts
  • Location: Sussex

Posted 21 September 2020 - 07:29 PM

Maybe have to start legislating all (un-towable) EVs come equipped with a decent jack and four of those casters/dollies that you can put a car on to move it around a workshop....



#7 pogie

pogie

    Speeding Along Now

  • TMF+ Member
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 498 posts
  • Local Club: Essex MC

Posted 19 October 2020 - 08:51 PM

I have an electric London Cab and it has to be lifted if broken down, I've heard towing may cause issues with the battery regenerative braking system.  Also if it loses the 12v system you cannot release the electric handbrake.



#8 wilsonch

wilsonch

    Mini Mad

  • TMF+ Member
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 107 posts
  • Location: north east

Posted 20 October 2020 - 01:14 PM

Its amazing these days that people 'solve' problems only to create another one that needs to be 'solved'.
DRL's are a prime example. They are so bright that they have to go off when you indicate because you cant see the indicators.. Madness.
'a few years ago' Volvo just made the side lights come on when the ignition was on., simple.
Now people want to save the planet with batteries but dont think about 'real world, real people' use.

Edited by wilsonch, 20 October 2020 - 01:15 PM.


#9 mab01uk

mab01uk

    Moved Into The Garage

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 11,779 posts
  • Local Club: Mini Cooper Register

Posted 20 October 2020 - 01:37 PM

DRL's are a prime example. They are so bright that they have to go off when you indicate because you cant see the indicators.. Madness.
'a few years ago' Volvo just made the side lights come on when the ignition was on., simple.
 

 

DRL's also only usually light up the front of the car in daylight, so at night some drivers assume they have lights on all round but they have no lights showing on the rear of the car.....not helped by permanent led lit dashboards, which in darkness used to indicate to drivers you had no lights on. Also many garages switch the auto-light setting off during MOT's so the driver who has become used to not needing to switch lights on manually drives around for some time unaware he has no lights on!


Edited by mab01uk, 20 October 2020 - 01:38 PM.


#10 Minigman

Minigman

    One Carb Or Two?

  • TMF+ Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 779 posts
  • Location: Barnstaple

Posted 20 October 2020 - 02:51 PM

My Dad retired about 10 years ago. Reasonably soon he got bored and took a part time job delivering exec cars 2 days a week. He’s driven some lovely stuff, 100k + mercs, Astons, Ferraris and BMWs over the last few years, but now he’s quit! Doing a delivery from Watford to Scotland used to be a 12 hour round trip but in the last year or so this is taking as much as another 6 hours and he was stuck for 22 hours on one occasion as he ran out of electric and couldn’t find a working charge point. As a petrol head the poor old boy loved that job.

Edited by Minigman, 20 October 2020 - 02:51 PM.


#11 wilsonch

wilsonch

    Mini Mad

  • TMF+ Member
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 107 posts
  • Location: north east

Posted 22 October 2020 - 11:52 AM


DRL's are a prime example. They are so bright that they have to go off when you indicate because you cant see the indicators.. Madness.
'a few years ago' Volvo just made the side lights come on when the ignition was on., simple.


DRL's also only usually light up the front of the car in daylight, so at night some drivers assume they have lights on all round but they have no lights showing on the rear of the car.....not helped by permanent led lit dashboards, which in darkness used to indicate to drivers you had no lights on. Also many garages switch the auto-light setting off during MOT's so the driver who has become used to not needing to switch lights on manually drives around for some time unaware he has no lights on!



Drivers not having lights on after dusk or in the rain are liability. As far as i am concerned theres no excuse. "oh i normally have them on auto" just shows the person driving doesnt have the common sense to check.
To be honest i never under stood why theres both settings. Either have auto only OR manual.
OR why not take away the option alltogether and just have auto, this is the way things are going, autonomous driving. The skill of driving is nearly gone.
I mean you have to be able to follow a sat nav in your driving test now. What is the world coming to...

#12 bikewiz

bikewiz

    Speeding Along Now

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 301 posts
  • Location: Cape Cod, Massachusetts
  • Local Club: NEMO

Posted 22 October 2020 - 12:22 PM

I call BS. Use some common sense and Google it. I've seen Tesla's on flatbed tow-trucks. They have tow mode. If it isn't a Tesla you can use Gojak dollies like every tow/recovery company has to move cars that are parked in.

Attached Files



#13 Bobbins

Bobbins

    One Carb Or Two?

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 1,327 posts
  • Location: Chester

Posted 28 October 2020 - 04:12 AM

Another good reason for not buying into the electric car scene.
I was speaking to someone who has a frien who has an electric car. He drove from north of London to Cornwell and it took 15 hours one way. Re-charging was a nightmare and he ran out of charge when a charging point was not working.
I'll stick with my 3-litre diesel BMW and my old Land-Rover Discovery. Last year I went to Stirling, in Scotland, to collect a Mini with my big trailer. It was 361 miles each way. I did it non-stop with a friend and we only stopped for one refuelling, and 3 meal/snack breaks. It took 16 hours in total. You sure as hell won't be doing that in a leccy car any time soon.


All a nice story but here's the reality ...

Using the "A Better Route Planner" app for my own EV, London Hyde Park to Lands End is 6hrs 6 minutes total journey time including 36 minutes of charging, obviously this could differ for changes in traffic conditions and any delays.

Maybe the driver was using a Renault Zoe and didn't bother to check on their app whether their planned charge point was actually working. Yes EV's are a very different technology to ICE vehicles and have their own set of foibles, but hasn't any technology we've used been the same, they're here to stay so we need to get used to it!

I do 100 miles/day in an EV, charging is cheap and I do it at my destination (work) so don't need to go anywhere near those mucky garage forecourt things. On longer journeys the sat nav works out where best to stop to charge, the time needed and knows whether the charge points are available, of course this can be altered if I want to stop for a break at a particular time or place.

I'm a petrolhead, love anything with a proper engine that makes plenty of noise, fast cars, classic cars, bikes and the rest, but for the daily grind there's no way I'd swap back from electric. Maybe I should carry a set of Gojoks though ....




0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users