Whilst listening to Radio 4 today I learnt that generally electric cars should not be towed. So if you call a breakdown service and they want to move the car they have to lift all 4 wheels of the ground rather than just two. So the breakdown vehicles are more expensive, also it costs about £1500 to train someone to fix faults on electric cars.
Apparently these vehicles also have 12v batteries.
In message <so3ncg$miv$ snipped-for-privacy@gioia.aioe.org>, at 23:22:56 on Mon, 29 Nov
2021, Michael Chare snipped-for-privacy@chareDO.Torg.uk> remarked:
They just need for skates rather than two. Although how many electric vehicles are 4WD anyway?
Is that all. Peanuts compared to a three year University degree.
Stick to your horse and cart - they don't have 12V batteries and it costs over £30000 to train a car mechanic to fix ICE cars.
Quite a few.
That said, he really should check how many other cars can?t be flat towed.
As for the 12v battery bit: ?So what ??
They also have other a list of other things petrol/ diesel/ hybrid cars have.
How many petrol cars detect the car hasn?t been driven for 24 hours and automatically ?top up? the 12 v aux battery from the drive battery to ensure the latter doesn?t become discharged?
( I?m no particular fan of electric cars and I?m certainly no tree hugger. I drive a hybrid because I like it and it works for us- very well recently!- not because I?m a tree hugger. )
Did you wonder why an EV with two wheel drive couldn't be towed with only the driven wheels lifted? Do you realise the same applies to many autos? And with AWD, the same if an EV or IC engined vehicle.
Pardon my ignorance, but I didn't realise. I thought manual could be towed but not automatic. Can my 2008 Micra (manual) be towed on four wheels using a tow rope?
Am I right that it is not possible to charge an EV at the roadside as the recovery vehicle could not possibly carry charging equipment capable of charging an EV within any reasonable timescale?
What proportion of recovery vehicles are capable to 'towing' an EV?
A small number of automatics can be towed with all four wheels on the ground - ones fitted with a second oil pump on the output shaft, so lubrication is available when being driven from the engine or when being towed ... although I doubt that any modern automatics have that second pump.
Just about all 2-wheel drive manual cars can be towed flat (and possibly many 4-wheel drive ones).
I think that a small number of vans have been equipped with batteries, to rapidly charge an EV. It would be perfectly feasible for a van to have a petrol or diesel engine capable of a rapidly charging an EV (many ICE car engines are 120 to 150 kW output and a lot more is not difficult).
I would think lots - most breakdown vans can lift one end of a vehicle for towing, as they do for ease and safety (a rope is only normally used to rapidly move a vehicle to a safer location) or for towing automatics, which is all that would be needed to two wheel drive electric vehicles.
On 30/11/2021 11:49, Scott wrote: ...
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You don't need to fully recharge it, just enough to get it to a charging station, or maybe home. This, not particularly small, unit will charge enough for about one mile in one minute.
Depends on the design of the auto if it can be towed, driving wheels turning. And the same applies to some manuals. If the gearbox bearings are pressure fed from a pump which only turns with the engine running. But either could be towed a short distance at slow speeds without problems. Not so sure about an EV - as electricity generated when towing might have nowhere to go. But you'd think this would have been thought of.
The trick with a single pump conventional auto is to over fill the box - to submerge all the bearings. But obviously tow slowly. And drain the excess afterwards. Which may be cheaper than getting a suitable tow truck.
But them many autos these days are robot controlled synchro boxes, so more like a manual. Or even CTV. Not sure about either of those.
My mate's Leaf does...
According to the article, breakdown vans are being equipped with diesel generators, to recharge EVs enough to get to a proper charging point.
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I thought the energy generated would be the equivalent of regenerative braking and would go back to the battery.
I assume his cart uses paraffin lamps then?
Is that for starting the horse or the cart?
"The 2018 Hyundai IONIQ has a range of about 200 km. The "donor" IONIQ transfers a sufficient charge to provide up to 40 km of range in about 20 minutes. Since the vehicle uses its own battery power to charge vehicles, its range is limited. The donor vehicle has to be able to return to its base. CAA-Quebec is equipped with three vehicles: two in Montreal and one in Quebec City. The service will be available in Montreal, Laval and Quebec City (in predetermined areas)."
That means, at least one model of BEV car, has some sort of "export" capability, for boosting car to car.
The IONIQ will not charge a Tesla :-)
*******BEV cars have more than one electric motor type.
At least one of the motor types, should be completely safe for towing. Some others, not so much. Some of the motors now, have no neodymium in them (an item the Chinese carefully control).
The poor guy in the tow truck, is going to need a really big service manual for all this.
Paul
Most EVs have a 12V battery for powering the normal 12V systems and for powering up the control systems to allow the traction battery contactors to be brought in.
Some can automatically recharge the 12V battery from the traction battery, if its voltage falls too low.
What do you mean by 'if its voltage falls too low'? How would the 12V battery be charged in normal use?
But you still can't make a silk purse out a sows ear even after spending £1500
In this weather just roll it over in its roof and tow it like a sled.
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