Do EVs need roadside assistance in Australia?

Most new EVs already come with it. Brands such as Tesla, Polestar and Zeekr include five years, while Kia, Hyundai and Geely renew cover with each dealer service. A separate club membership mainly adds longer tows, more callouts and charging discounts, which matter most for regional and long-distance drivers.

What happens if my electric car runs out of charge?

Roadside assistance either gives the car a short top-up from a mobile charger or tows it to the nearest public charger, your home or a dealer. Mobile chargers only operate in some metro areas, so in most places expect a tow. Distance limits apply, and charging costs are usually yours.

Does NRMA help electric cars?

Yes. NRMA covers electric and hybrid vehicles at no extra cost on its roadside plans, which start from $11.99 a month as of October 2026. If it can't give a mobile charge, it tows the car to the nearest charging station within your membership's towing limit.

Can an electric car be towed?

Yes, but usually not with its driven wheels on the road. NRMA sends a flatbed truck with dolly wheels for EVs, because spinning wheels can feed power back through regenerative braking and damage components. Tesla's manual says to transport the car with all four tyres off the ground.

Does roadside assistance cost more for an EV?

No. The state motoring clubs we checked, including NRMA, RACV, RACQ, RAA and RAC, charge EV owners the same as petrol drivers. Prices start from about $109 to $144 a year for plans that include towing, as of October 2026, and several clubs add member discounts at public chargers.

EV Roadside Assistance Australia: Do You Need It?

EV roadside assistance in Australia is usually already in the box. Most new electric cars come with free cover, from 12 months at BYD to five years at Tesla, Polestar and Zeekr, and several brands keep renewing it each time you service with a dealer. Every state motoring club also covers EVs at no extra cost. The real questions are how far each plan will tow you when you run out of charge, and whether a club membership on top is worth about $110 to $145 a year.

That’s the question new owners keep asking: is roadside a habit left over from petrol cars? Not quite. EVs have no fuel pump to fail or oil to leak, but they still get flat tyres, flat 12-volt batteries and the odd range miscalculation. Most also have no spare wheel, which turns a simple tyre change into a tow.

The numbers back that up. RACV said in June 2026 that its out-of-charge callouts for EVs rose 37% from 2024 to 2025, as more EVs hit Victorian roads. Across all vehicles, flat batteries made up 45% of Youi Roadside Assist callouts between December 2024 and December 2025, with tyres next at 16%.

What EV roadside assistance in Australia includes from the manufacturer

Manufacturer roadside assistance is free cover that comes with a new car, run by the brand or a contractor on its behalf. Length and conditions vary a lot. The table below shows what each brand’s Australian terms said as of October 2026.

Brand	Free cover	Renews with servicing?	If you run out of charge
Tesla	5 years (cars delivered from 1 Jan 2026)	No	Help arranged, but not a financially covered service
BYD	12 months from registration	Renewable yearly, per press reports	Short charge, or tow to nearest charging point
Hyundai	24 months for EVs	Yes, 24 months per dealer service	Tow to nearest charging point
Kia	12 months	Yes, up to 8 years	Tow to nearest charging station at Kia’s expense
Geely	12 months	Yes, up to 7 years	Tow to nearest compatible charger
GWM (Ora)	7 years for the Ora 5 and models sold from 1 July 2026	Plus 12 months per dealer service	Not stated
MG	Length of the car’s warranty	No	Not stated
Zeekr	5 years	No	Not stated
Polestar	5 years	No	Not stated
XPeng	Not stated	Not stated	Tow to nearest suitable charger; charging cost is yours
Toyota (bZ4X)	Not free: paid plans from $99 a year	Not applicable	Mobile charge where available, or tow to nearest charger

Sources: each brand’s Australian roadside page or terms document. Tesla’s five-year figure comes from Australian press reports in January 2026.

A few details matter more than the headline years. Kia’s roadside terms are the clearest on charge: if the high-voltage battery is flat, Kia tows the car to the nearest charger at its own cost, with no distance cap written into the terms. BYD’s roadside terms first try to give you enough charge to reach a station. If that’s not practical, the patrol tows you to the nearest charging point, which can be your home or a BYD dealer.

Hyundai’s roadside support gives EVs 24 months, double what its petrol and hybrid cars get, and renews it with each dealer service. One catch sits in Hyundai’s EV terms brochure. Towing applies to vehicles under 2,500 kg, and some large electric SUVs weigh close to that or more. Check your car’s kerb weight against the terms if you drive one.

MG’s cover runs for the full warranty. Its towing goes to the nearest MG dealer, up to 20 km in the city or 100 km in the country, on sealed roads only. MG’s page doesn’t mention running out of charge, so ask the dealer how that’s handled before you need it.

Tesla is the outlier on charge. Its roadside page says it will help an out-of-range car but doesn’t cover the cost. With five years of cover for everything else, that’s an easy gap to plan around.

What happens when an EV runs out of charge?

Running out of charge almost always ends in a tow to the nearest charger. A few operators carry mobile chargers, but they only give a short top-up and only work in some cities.

Mobile EV charging is a portable charger in a service van that puts a few kilometres back into the battery at the roadside. Here’s where clubs offer it, based on their own announcements:

NRMA: mobile chargers in Sydney, Wollongong and the ACT. Its 2023 units used a 9.6 kW charger and gave about 1 km of range every two minutes.
RAA: a permanent mobile service in metro Adelaide since 2024, giving about 1 km of range per minute.
RACV: trialling a single van with a 20 kW DC charger since June 2026.
AANT: a mobile charging service in greater Darwin.

Outside those areas, the patrol tows you. Where to depends on the plan: the nearest public charger, your home or your destination, within the plan’s towing limit. RAA tells members to bring their own charging cable, because many slower public chargers have a socket rather than a tethered lead.

The towing limit is where people get caught. Running out of charge 60 km from the nearest working charger on a plan with a 20 km limit means paying commercial rates for the other 40 km. Check the limit before a long trip, not after.

Planning prevents most of this. Official range figures overstate what you’ll get at 110 km/h, often by 15 to 25%. The government’s Green Vehicle Guide lists each model’s tested energy use, and our EV range calculator adjusts for speed and temperature. Our EV road trip guide covers the charging gaps on major routes.

Motoring club roadside plans for EVs compared

Every state club we checked covers EVs at the same price as petrol cars. What changes between tiers is how far they’ll tow you and how many callouts you get.

Club	Entry plan with towing (as of Oct 2026)	Metro tow limit	Out-of-charge help
NRMA (NSW, ACT)	Everyday Care, from $11.99/month	25 km	Mobile charge or tow to nearest charger
RACV (VIC)	Roadside Care, $144/year	20 km	Tow to nearest charger or destination within limit
RACQ (QLD)	Everyday, $109/year	20 km	Tow to charger or destination within entitlements
RAA (SA)	Standard, $135/year	10 km	Mobile charge in metro Adelaide, or tow
RAC (WA)	Standard, $135.68/year	25 km	Tow to nearest EV charger (Perth metro)
RACT (TAS)	Roadside Advantage, $144/year	15 km	Tow within limit
AANT (NT)	Standard, $139/year	8 km	Mobile charge in Darwin, or tow

Prices come from each club’s website and can change at renewal.

Two plan details stand out. RACQ’s cheapest Everyday Lite plan, at $80 a year, includes no towing at all. For an EV without a spare, that removes the one service you’re most likely to need. At the top end, RACV’s Total Care costs $337 a year. It tows an out-of-charge car up to 200 km to a charger or your chosen destination, which suits regional Victorians.

Higher tiers across the clubs typically raise the tow limit to 50 or 100 km, add country cover and include extras such as accommodation if you’re stranded far from home.

Do you need a separate roadside membership for your EV?

For most new-EV owners in a city, no. If your car came with multi-year cover that handles running out of charge, a club membership mostly duplicates it. There’s also a common trap: some brands contract their free cover to the same state club, so a second membership doesn’t even give you a backup patrol.

A membership earns its keep in four situations:

Your free cover has lapsed or is short. BYD’s first-year cover and Kia’s 12-month blocks lapse if you service elsewhere.
You drive regionally. Longer tow limits matter when the nearest charger or tyre shop is 80 km away.
You use public charging a lot. Member discounts can offset part of the fee. NRMA members get 5c/kWh off or 5% back at NRMA chargers, RACV and RAA members get 10% off at participating Chargefox or RAA sites, RACQ members get 4c/kWh off at selected Evie sites, and RAC members save 20% at RAC chargers.
The household has other cars. A membership covers the member, not just one car.

Insurance is a third option. Youi includes roadside assistance with its comprehensive car policies, with tows of up to 20 km in the city and 50 km in the country. Budget Direct sells roadside for $89.95 a year as of October 2026, with a 20 km tow limit. Both are cheaper than most club plans but tow shorter distances. Our EV insurance cost guide covers what policies include.

The callouts EV owners actually make

Flat tyres and flat 12-volt batteries cause far more EV callouts than empty traction batteries. The 12-volt battery is the small battery that powers the locks, screens and computers, and it can go flat even when the main battery is full.

Australian clubs don’t publish a split of EV and petrol callouts. Germany’s ADAC does, and its 2025 breakdown figures (German data) are a useful guide. Two-year-old EVs had 2.1 breakdowns per 1,000 cars, against 5.8 for petrol and diesel cars of the same age. The starter battery was the most common cause across all vehicles.

Tyres are the other big one, and here EVs are at a disadvantage. Most carry a repair kit instead of a spare wheel, and a kit can’t fix a sidewall cut. That means a tow to the nearest tyre shop. Our guide to whether electric cars have a spare tyre lists which models still carry one and what aftermarket kits cost.

If your car won’t wake up, check the 12-volt battery first. A patrol can jump-start it like any car, but you can’t jump-start the high-voltage battery. Our EV 12V battery guide explains the warning signs.

Why EVs need a flatbed tow

Most EVs should be carried on a flatbed with the driven wheels off the ground. NRMA advises against towing an EV with its wheels turning, because the motor can generate power through regenerative braking and damage the drive system. Its patrols send a flatbed truck with dolly wheels as standard.

Manufacturers say the same. Tesla’s owner’s manual says to transport the car with all four tyres off the ground, and its tow mode is only for winching the car onto a truck at walking pace. All-wheel-drive EVs need every wheel off the road.

When you call for a tow, say you’re in an EV and ask for a flatbed. Know where the tow mode or transport mode setting is on your car before you need it, because the patrol may ask you to switch it on.

Comparing models before you buy? Our electric vehicles hub lists every EV on sale in Australia, including warranty details, and the EV compare tool lines them up side by side.

EV Roadside Assistance in Australia: What's Included, What Running Out of Charge Costs, and Whether You Need a Club