This question appears like an open and shut case. One that Sherlock Holmes would casually toss aside on the way to an unscheduled interlocutory affair with an intrepid Moriarty. But, there are dynamics at play with EVs that do not work in the same way with ICE (internal combustion engines) vehicles.
“Towing an EV incorrectly can damage the electric motor, ruin the transmission, or cause an electrical fire. Always lift all four wheels off the ground using a flatbed tow truck.”
AI overview
If an EV breaks down it is often an issue with the electronics. No hammer action is going to put that right on the roadside verge. Do they have a hitching point? Not always standard, this is the practical catch (no pun intended). BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz offer electric towing that remains hidden under the rear bumper and deploys at the press of a button.
Can an EV brake with the drive system off?
Friction (hydraulic) braking should still work, but the assist might not. As long as the 12V system is alive (which it normally is, even with the drive battery system shut down) pedal assist works. If the 12V is also dead, you lose assist and the pedal gets very heavy. Mechanically it can still work but takes much more leg force, similar to power steering-off situations.
The real showstopper: brake-by-wire. Some newer EVs don’t have a direct hydraulic linkage from pedal to caliper at all. it’s electronically mediated. In those, a fully dead system can mean no brakes at all, not just heavy ones.
Regenerative braking is gone. Regen needs the motor/inverter actively engaged. Not a big deal though, in the greater scheme of things.
Is there a difference in what you can tow with an EV?
The good news is that your boat is safe (on the trailer). Electric power gives a lot more torque in comparison to a conventional car. But, beware dropping those rear wheels in the surf.
That instant torque is a liability if you’re heavy-footed. Wet or algae-slicked concrete, combined with weight transferring off the front axle onto a nose-up incline, is one of the classic low-traction failure modes, regardless of powertrain. Stab the pedal on a slick ramp and an EV will break rear traction faster and harder than an ICE car easing into its power band. This is the classic “EV wheelspin” complaint from tow vehicle reviewers.
Is there a difference in how you can tow?
Most electric vehicles lose 35–60% of their unloaded range when towing. A truck rated at 300 miles might only achieve 120–150 miles with a trailer attached. If you’re comfortable stopping every 2 to 3 hours for a 30 minute charge, then it’s smooth sailing.
Is there a difference in how you can be towed?
Dolly towing (front wheels up) is often explicitly banned on AWD EVs with dual motors, since the “undriven” end isn’t undriven. For an EV, strap-towing a dead car any real distance is often not just inadvisable but against the manufacturer’s own guidance. Flatbed is the real answer. Any strap or rope trick is more of a “get it off the street” move.
We’re still on EVs, but not yet into the robotaxi world. You won’t see a Waymo pulling a trailer; the entire vehicle is provisioned as a sealed passenger pod, not a utility platform.
How is a robotaxi towed when it’s the one broken down?
This is it’s a genuine operational headache for the industry right now. Not a solved engineering problem so much as a logistics one. No driver means no steering during recovery, so you can’t put one behind a pickup truck and drive away.
There are a lot of humorous anecdotes related to robotaxi recovery, most of them from Waymo. An interesting concept appears to be the f-locking behavior. When one goes down, we all go down, because we follow the same protocol. During one California outage, Waymo’s cars stopped 1,593 times for two minutes or more, and the company sent staff or tow trucks to retrieve 64 vehicles.
This means the market for flatbeds gets pretty hot after a mass robotaxi meltdown. Maybe the stock to hitch your wagon to is not deathly sleek whispering autonomous vehicles, but some rough and tumble, clanky, jangling Rastafarian recovery vehicles.
