Why an EV is a different kind of tow
More electric cars show up on Central Ohio roads every year, from commuter hatchbacks in Dublin driveways to heavy electric pickups on job sites near New Albany. Most owners never think about a tow until the dash goes dark, and the habits that worked for a gas car do not all carry over.
The core issue is the drive motor. In most EVs the motor is connected to the wheels through a fixed reduction gear, with no true neutral that disconnects it the way a manual gearbox can. When those wheels turn, the motor turns too, and a spinning motor acts as a generator. Pulling a car on its drive wheels can push current back toward electronics that are not expecting it, build heat in components with no cooling running, and wear parts that were never meant to spin with the car switched off. That is why many EV makers tell owners the car should travel with every wheel lifted clear of the pavement.
Weight is the second difference. A battery pack adds a lot of mass low in the chassis, and the pack itself often runs nearly the full length of the floor. A carrier needs a deck and winch rated for that weight, and the operator needs to know where not to put a strap or a lifting point.
Flatbed only, and why we load from the wheels
Every tow we run is on one of our four light-duty flatbed carriers, so an EV customer never has to argue for the right truck. The car is winched up the tilted deck and secured with straps around the tires rather than chains hooked to the underbody. Wheel straps hold the car by its rubber, which keeps hardware away from the battery enclosure, cooling lines and the thin covers that protect the underside.
If the car will not roll at all, because the parking brake is locked or the shifter cannot leave Park, the operator can set wheel skates (small rolling dollies) under the stuck wheels before winching. That lets the car move onto the deck without dragging a locked tire across the bed. Our EV towing page explains how we handle the job from call to drop-off, and the same reasoning applies to all-wheel-drive gas cars, covered in our guide on why AWD cars need a flatbed.
Transport mode, tow mode and neutral
Manufacturers name the setting differently: transport mode, tow mode, car wash mode or a neutral hold. The idea is the same. It tells the car to release the electronic parking brake and stay free-rolling so it can be pulled onto a deck. Many cars cancel the mode if the door opens or the car sleeps, so it is worth turning on right before loading, not twenty minutes early.
Look up the exact steps in your owner's manual or the maker's app before you need them. Some models put the option on the touchscreen under a service or towing menu; others need the brake pedal held while a button is pressed. If you are waiting at the roadside and are not sure, give the dispatcher the model and model year. The driver will ask you to work the screen while they watch the wheels.
- Find your car's towing or transport setting in the manual now, while it is parked at home.
- Expect the mode to need 12-volt power; a dark screen means it cannot be selected.
- Keep the key card or phone key with you; some cars will not unlock or shift without it.
- Mention aftermarket wheels, lowered suspension or a dash camera wired to the battery when you call.
When the small battery is the one that died
It surprises a lot of first-time EV owners: the big traction pack can be half full while the car refuses to do anything. Door handles, the touchscreen, the brake release and the contactors that connect the main pack are all run by an ordinary 12-volt battery (or a newer low-voltage lithium unit in some models). When that small battery is flat, the car is effectively locked, braked and asleep.
Some makers provide a way to feed the 12-volt system from outside, through terminals behind a panel or near the front tow-eye cover, so the hood or frunk can be opened and the car woken. Others say the low-voltage battery can be boosted like a normal car battery, but only at specified points. Because the procedure varies so much, follow the manual for your model. Our jump start service can provide that low-voltage boost where the maker allows it, and that is sometimes enough to select transport mode and load the car normally.
If the car cannot be woken, the operator falls back on skates under the locked wheels. It takes longer, but the car still travels flat on the deck.
What an EV tow costs with us
We publish a separate EV rate card on our rates page: $2.50 per mile en route from our yard on Harrisburg Pike, a $150 hook-up, and $7.50 per loaded mile. Highway pickups add $100, and storage for an EV is $75 a day if the car has to wait at the yard.
As a worked example only: a pickup 10 miles from the yard on a city street, towed 8 miles to a dealer service department, would be $25 en route, $150 hook-up and $60 loaded, or $235 before any night or weekend surcharge and Ohio sales tax for the pickup county. Veterans get 10% off with ID. The dispatcher will run your real numbers before the truck rolls.
Longer trips follow the same math. Owners sometimes need a car moved to the nearest brand service center, which for some makes is not in Franklin County at all. In that case the loaded miles make up most of the bill, so it pays to call the service center first and confirm they can take the car that day.
After the drop-off: charging and checks
Decide where the car goes before the truck arrives. A dealer or EV-capable shop is the usual choice for a fault, but if the car simply ran out of charge, the cheapest fix may be a short tow home to your own Level 2 charger. Ask the dispatcher to drop the car close to the outlet so the cable reaches; once the car is off the deck it may not move again on its own.
A drained pack should be charged at a normal rate first. Most cars report an error if something is wrong, so watch for warnings in the first few minutes of charging and again after a full cycle. Cold mornings make this worse: a pack that is near empty in January has less usable range than the same reading in July, so plan your next drive with margin.
A car that was in a crash is different. A damaged high-voltage pack can heat up hours or days later, so collision-damaged EVs are often parked outdoors and apart from other vehicles until someone qualified inspects them. Do not plug a crash-damaged EV in to charge until a shop says it is safe. If the car was in a wreck, our guide on what to do after a crash in Ohio covers the first hour.