How to Tow a Broken-Down Electric Car in Belgium

The question comes up at every breakdown on the shoulder of the E411 (the Brussels–Luxembourg motorway): can you hook an electric car behind a tow truck like an old diesel? The short answer is no. You transport it on a flatbed, wheels lifted, never flat-towed over distance. And to be clear, this article is about recovering the car itself when it's immobilised, not about towing a trailer with your electric car, which is a different subject.

Can you tow a broken-down electric car?

No, not like a petrol car. A broken-down EV has to be loaded onto a flatbed truck with all four wheels off the ground. Conventional towing, two wheels on the road behind a recovery vehicle, is discouraged by manufacturers and by Belgian assistance providers, even when the manual allows it for a few hundred metres.

The reflex inherited from combustion cars no longer works. You used to shift to neutral, hook up the bar or strap, and pull. On an EV, that move can be expensive. Belgian insurer Baloise is clear on its blog: moving the vehicle a few metres to clear the road, yes; towing it over a long distance, no.

In practice, a recovery operator who turns up with a simple trailer and no flatbed can't do anything clean. You need a recovery vehicle with a tilting bed, or failing that dollies that lift the driven axle. A detail that can lengthen your wait if the provider sends the wrong equipment first.

Why must you never flat-tow an electric car?

Because an EV's wheels stay permanently linked to the motor. There's no true neutral that decouples the motor the way a combustion gearbox does. The moment the wheels turn, the motor turns with them and becomes a generator.

The mechanism is regenerative braking, except here nobody is managing it. While driving normally, the system recovers energy when you lift off to recharge the battery. During flat-towing, the driven wheels produce a current that nothing absorbs properly. The possible result: inverter overheating, overvoltage in the power electronics, and in extreme cases a risk to the high-voltage battery.

Belgian broadcaster RTBF documented in 2023 the headache EVs pose for the country's recovery crews: tricky towing, longer interventions, extra caution. A combustion engine drops into neutral and lets itself be pulled without complaint. An EV demands a flatbed, full stop. This isn't an overcautious rule, it's the warranty you lose if you flat-tow anyway and the motor fails.

How do you activate transport mode by brand?

Transport mode, sometimes called "tow mode" or "transport mode," is a setting that releases the electric parking brake and allows very slow movement or loading onto a flatbed. It's enabled from the screen or a button combination, as long as the 12 V battery still responds.

Each brand has its own procedure, and that's where things get complicated on a rainy roadside. An EV's parking brake is electric: without releasing it, the rear wheels stay locked and the car refuses to roll onto the flatbed. Hence the value of knowing the step, or letting a trained operator handle it.

Sources: manufacturer manuals (Tesla, Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen, Renault, BMW), 2024-2026. When in doubt, the flatbed is the rule.

The verdict fits in one line: these modes exist to move the car a few metres and load it onto a flatbed, not to tow it ten kilometres. As soon as the 12 V is dead, the screen goes off and none of these settings is reachable, which brings us to the real issue.

How far can you move an EV with wheels on the ground?

A few metres, at walking pace, to free a passage. That's the sensible maximum. Manuals that allow more talk about speeds under 5 km/h over very short distances, and always as a last resort. Beyond that, the flatbed wins.

What are the most common electric-car breakdowns?

The EV breakdown ranking is surprising: the top cause isn't the traction battery, it's the small 12 V battery. According to ADAC, of 43,678 electric-car breakdowns it handled in Germany in 2024, half were linked to a failing 12 V battery, the same Achilles' heel as petrol cars (45%).

That 12 V battery powers the locks, the screen, the lighting and the wake-up electronics. It drains if the car sits for a long time, in hard cold, or because a consumer stayed active. And when it dies, it's a double penalty: the car won't start, and sometimes it won't even open.

Good news for overall reliability: EVs break down less often as a whole. Again per ADAC, EVs from the 2020-2022 model years showed 4.2 breakdowns per 1,000 vehicles versus 10.4 for combustion cars. The contrast is stark, but it changes nothing about what to do on the day it goes wrong: flatbed for recovery, a 12 V recharge for the rest.

What should you do if your electric car is stuck in mud or snow?

First reflex: ease off the accelerator. On soft or snowy ground, flooring it just digs the wheels in and heats things up for nothing. An EV's instant torque is an asset for pulling away gently, provided you engage snow or eco mode, which caps power and limits wheelspin.

The real problem is weight. A family EV often tops 2 tonnes, 200 to 400 kg more than a same-size petrol car because of the battery. On a waterlogged festival car park, an Ardennes holiday-cottage access track, or the slushy snow of an upland plateau, that weight digs the wheels in faster and makes recovery more laborious. The battery under the floor also lowers usable ground clearance.

If the car is genuinely planted, don't force it. Clear the wheels by hand, slide traction boards or branches under the tyres, and try a slow exit. If it resists, call a recovery service with a winch. Yanking two tonnes on a strap without knowing the approved anchor points is the best way to rip off a bumper or bend a suspension arm.

Can you pull a stuck EV with a strap?

Only by the dedicated recovery eyes, never by an axle or a body panel. Most EVs hide a screw-in eye in the toolkit, to fit onto a reinforced point on the bumper. And on a short extraction at very low speed, the regen risk stays marginal. Beyond freeing it, back to the flatbed.

What if the 12 V battery is dead and the car won't open?

This is the classic winter scenario. Without 12 V, the locks and screen are dead. Each brand provides emergency access: 12 V terminals under a bumper cover on Tesla, a mechanical handle in the boot, or an external feed to wake the circuit. The operator recharges the 12 V on the spot and the car comes back to life, often within minutes.

My sharpest memory is a festival car park in July, the ground turned to a mud rink after the storm. The petrol cars were already slipping; the electrics, heavier, sank one notch deeper. I watched an electric SUV wait for the winch while next to it an old diesel estate came out on a strap. Instant torque is great for easing away. The day you're truly planted, it's the weight that talks, and it doesn't lie.

Who do you call for EV roadside assistance in Belgium?

In Belgium, Touring and VAB (the two main roadside-assistance clubs) both cover electric cars, just like petrol ones. Both have the equipment to lift the car onto a flatbed and recharge a flat 12 V. The smart move is to check, before the breakdown, that your plan covers EVs and flatbed transport.

Touring highlights a service that speaks straight to range-anxious drivers: if you run out of electrons, the patrol recharges the car just enough to reach the nearest charging point, a service the club calls exclusive in Belgium. And nearly 8 in 10 interventions are settled on the spot, with no tow, which also applies to many 12 V issues.

VAB offers assistance from kilometre zero, meaning from your home, and covers breakdown and towing for vehicles up to 5.5 tonnes, battery included. To compare plans and prices, the comparator and specialist Belgian sites give a sense of costs before you sign.

Should you tell the assistance provider it's an electric car?

Yes, right from the call. Stating the make, model and the fact it's electric means the right vehicle gets dispatched, a flatbed rather than a conventional tow. That avoids a wasted first visit and a second wait.

How much does towing cost and does insurance cover it?

Without an assistance contract, a one-off recovery tow generally sits between €80 and €250 depending on distance, time and day, with a clear surcharge at night and on weekends. With a Touring or VAB membership, around €60 to €120 a year, basic breakdown and towing are included in the fee.

On the car-insurance side, breakdown cover is sometimes included in comprehensive policies or as an option. Belgian site comparateur.be notes that the towing method can affect the claim: damage caused by a badly executed flat tow can be contested. Hence the importance of the flatbed, which protects both the car and the file.

The maths is quick for an EV owner. A single out-of-contract call-out can cost more than a year of membership. If you drive electric and regularly make the run to family in Wallonia or to the coast, annual assistance with a guaranteed flatbed is the cheapest peace of mind on the list.