EV Boost for Electric Car Breakdown Insurance

As our customers will know, we don’t readily offer Breakdown Insurance as an add on to our electric car insurance policy as we’re aware of no Electric Car Breakdown Insurance policy specifically tailored to meet the needs of electric car users. That's not to say that it's not a good idea to consider purchasing a breakdown policy for your electric car, just that it's important to be aware of what is and isn't included.  This might all soon be changing, however, with news that RAC has developed an EV Boost system – the first lightweight mobile electric vehicle (EV) charger capable of giving stranded out-of-charge cars a power boost from one of its roadside rescue vans.

The bespoke solution can be rolled-out to hundreds of patrol vehicles ensuring the RAC can match the scale of demand as electric vehicle ownership grows in the coming years.

The first six Ford Transit Custom patrol vans equipped with the new EV generators - powered by an additional alternator fitted to each van – took to the roads last month in London, Birmingham and Manchester and will be rolled-out to areas with high call-outs.

The charger, which was developed by the RAC in partnership with automotive engineering firm Original Ltd, is capable of delivering a ‘top-up’ roadside charge from a standard RAC patrol van sufficient to get a stranded EV safely to a nearby charge point.

The RAC EV Boost charger works with all Type 1 and Type 2 connections ensuring it will charge 99% of electric vehicles on UK roads today.

EVs present a particular challenge as many cannot be towed normally and ideally should be transported with all wheels off the ground which usually requires a flat-bed vehicle. So, if an electric car runs out of charge in a busy urban location, such as a red route in London or even just a narrow road, it can’t be towed to the nearest charge point – and is likely to cause traffic jams and frustration.

How does it work?

The new EV Boost system uses a generator permanently fitted to the RAC van’s diesel engine, the power produced is passed through an invertor to give an out-of-charge electric vehicle a boost. T

The RAC is confident that the EV Boost solution is faster and more efficient than the alternative options of towing the out-of-charge vehicle or carrying an additional large battery to supply the charge. It also produces less air pollution than these two options.