Shipping Electric Cars

​Whether you believe that electric and hybrid vehicles are the future of motoring or not, there is no denying that they are becoming more and more popular. With improvements in the technology and the infrastructure to allow a user to charge their vehicle when and where they please, it is likely that this trend will continue.

AAS

At AAS we are receiving more and more requests from customers looking to ship their electric vehicles nationwide. You can see that electric and hybrid cars are becoming more prevalent in both the new and second-hand car marketplace, and due to the location of the main car company manufacturing plants, will be required to be shipped around the nation.

How Are Electric Cars Different From “Normal” Cars?

A little bit of explaining first. An electric vehicle, or “EV”, is a vehicle that is either fully or partially powered using electricity. A partially electric-powered car, which runs on a mixture of electric and petrol/diesel power, is known as a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV). These days, either type of electric vehicle is likely to be powered fully or partially by a Lithium Ion Battery.

“But my diesel car also has a battery”, I hear you say. In a standard petrol or diesel engine, the car battery is part of the starting process of a vehicle, and also provides power for things like lights, stereo etc when the engine is switched off.

In an Electric vehicle, the Lithium Ion Battery and electric motor replaces the requirement of a combustion engine powered by fossil fuels such as petrol or diesel. A PHEV runs on a mixture of battery and petrol/diesel power.

What Makes Shipping Electric Cars Different?

It is the Lithium battery in an electric or hybrid vehicle that makes it different to a standard petrol/diesel powered vehicle when shipping nationwide. Lithium Batteries are considered dangerous cargo for shipping, including Lithium batteries that are in equipment, such as laptops, mobile phones and of course, electric or hybrid cars.

Shipping Electric Vehicles (EVs) by Roll-on/Roll-off

At AAS we have shipped many electric vehicles by Roll-on/Roll-off services, without the need for additional cost.

This shipping option is used by all major car manufacturers, including BMW, Audi, Renault, Porsche and Mazda, and car shipping companies nationwide.

Do I Have to Remove the Battery When Shipping Electric and Hybrid Cars

The short answer is no.

You do not require to have the battery removed or disconnected for nationwide transport, and we suggest it is not something that you should attempt if you are being told to do so.

If you take Tesla, for example, there are around 143 steps involved in removing the battery and a further 171 to put it back.

This is a difficult and costly process, as you can see, so not cost-effective in any way if you are being advised that your best shipping option is the removal of your battery to ship as non-hazardous. It may even invalidate any warranty you have and, in some cases, we have heard that to have the battery re-fitted a vehicle needed to be shipped nationwide.

Should I Disconnect the Battery to Ship my Electric or Hybrid Car?

As we have discussed above, certain carriers may ask for different rules/or regulations to be followed before they accept bookings for electric or hybrid vehicles. However, we have found a general consensus that you do not have to disconnect the battery to ship an electric or hybrid car.

In fact, some manufacturers of electric and hybrid vehicles have their own safety measures employed to prevent their batteries from being a danger during shipping. These include specialised sensors to disconnect the batteries if it detects that the temperature is too high, and an electronic cooling system.

Electric Car Shipping Services at AAS

At AAS we have been shipping our customer’s vehicles for years. We keep up to date with current regulations for the whole shipping process, including carrier regulations and Customs clearance. This means that we are able to give you up-to-date advice on the best options available to you for shipping your electric or hybrid car .

Our flexible shipping options, based on the availability, gives us regular scheduled nationwide shipping, in some cases with weekly shipping. Our easy to complete quotation form means you can quickly and easily give us all the information needed to quote you 24 hours a day.