Specialist cover for electric vehicles.

Why EVs need different breakdown cover

Electric vehicles break down differently. You are not going to run out of fuel, but you can run out of charge, and that requires a different kind of rescue. A standard patrol van cannot tow an EV the same way it tows a petrol car, and jump-starting an EV's high-voltage battery is a specialist job that most patrols are not equipped to do.

The providers that take EVs seriously have invested in mobile charging units, specialist recovery equipment, and trained their patrols on high-voltage systems. The ones that have not will simply tow you to a garage and hope for the best, which is not what you want when your car has a flat battery and the nearest charging point is five miles away.

What EV owners should look for

Mobile charging is the single most important EV-specific feature. A patrol with a mobile charging unit can give your car enough charge to reach the nearest public charging point, getting you back on the road without a tow. Not all providers offer this yet.

Specialist recovery equipment is essential. EVs cannot be towed with all four wheels on the ground in most cases, because the motor can generate current that damages the inverter. The provider needs a flatbed recovery vehicle, not a standard tow rope.

Home Start is particularly relevant for EV owners. If your car has not charged overnight, you may discover the problem when you are about to leave for work. Home Start covers you at your own address, so a patrol can come to your drive and help diagnose the issue.

Dedicated EV information pages are a good signal. Providers that have published clear information about their EV capabilities are more likely to have invested in the equipment and training to back it up. We track which providers have dedicated EV pages as part of our EV score.

Running out of charge

Running out of charge is the EV equivalent of running out of petrol, and it is the breakdown scenario EV owners worry about most. Check whether your provider covers out-of-charge incidents as standard. Some providers explicitly exclude it, while others include it as part of their standard roadside assistance.

Even if your provider covers it, the response may vary. A provider with mobile charging can get you moving again at the roadside. One without will need to tow you to a charging point, which takes longer and is more disruptive.

How the quiz helps

The quiz asks about your vehicle type. Tell it you drive an electric car, and it will rank providers by our EV score, which weights confirmed EV support, mobile charging, specialist recovery, and dedicated EV pages. You see which providers have invested in EV capability and which have not.

The ranking uses today's tracked data, so if a provider adds mobile charging or publishes a new EV page, it will be reflected the next day. Take the quiz to see which providers are genuinely EV-ready.