EV and Hybrid Recovery in London

Electric and hybrid vehicles cannot be recovered the way a petrol car can. The drive motors are connected to the wheels, so rolling one along behind a truck risks damaging them. MPG Recovery carries EVs and hybrids on the bed with all four wheels off the ground, across London, at any hour.

Why all four wheels come off the ground

On an electric car the motor and the driven wheels turn together. Towing it on those wheels spins the motor whether the car is on or not, which generates current the vehicle is not expecting and can damage the drivetrain. Plenty of manufacturers state plainly in the handbook that the car must not be towed.

Putting the whole vehicle on the bed sidesteps the question. Nothing rotates, nothing generates, and the car arrives in the state it left in. The same applies to hybrids, which have the same arrangement for part of the time.

What usually goes wrong

A flat traction battery, which is the electric equivalent of running out of fuel, and just as common in London where drivers rely on public chargers. A charging fault, either in the car or discovered when every charger at a site rejects it. A dead 12 volt battery, which stops the car waking up at all even with a full traction battery. Punctures, since many EVs carry no spare. And collision damage, like any other car.

Tell us which it is if you know, because it changes where the vehicle should go. A flat battery may only need a run to the nearest working rapid charger. A charging fault usually means a dealer or specialist.

Loading an EV safely

EVs are heavy — often several hundred kilos more than the petrol car they resemble — and the weight sits low in the floor where the battery pack is. That affects where straps go and how the vehicle is positioned on the bed.

We also need to know whether the car can be put into neutral. Some EVs need power to release the parking pawl, so a completely dead 12 volt battery can lock the wheels. Mention it up front and we will bring what is needed rather than discovering it on your driveway.

What to tell us

• Make and model, and whether it is fully electric or hybrid
• Whether the car will wake up and go into neutral
• Whether it is a flat traction battery or something else
• Whether it is plugged in or blocked in at a charging bay
• Where it needs to go

Part of our recovery work

Electric vehicles use the same bed as everything else we carry, which is precisely why they can be moved safely. For everything we move on the bed, see vehicle recovery in London, or browse all our services.

Where an electric car should go

It depends on what stopped it. A flat traction battery usually just needs a run to a working rapid charger, and you drive away from there. A charging fault, where the car refuses every charger, is a job for a franchised dealer or an EV specialist rather than a general garage.

A dead 12 volt battery is the one that catches people out: the car can have plenty of drive charge and still be completely unresponsive. That is often a quick fix once somebody can get to it, so home or a local garage may be enough. Tell us what the car is doing and we will talk it through before anything is booked.

EV & Hybrid Recovery FAQs