What happens when you run out of battery in your electric car?
I polled my audience on LinkedIn, and of the respondents who’d experienced running out of petrol or power, none were in an EV.
When I need to, I will drive my car until there's just 2% left. Not often, because it isn't great for the battery, but if I do have to, I trust my car will get me where I need to go. Just like the estimated miles to empty in your internal combustion engine (ICE) car, there's always something left in the tank, figuratively speaking, with an EV too.
According to the AA’s breakdown service data, only about 1.5% of all EV callouts were from running out of battery, which is not far off the figures for ICE vehicles: calls for running out of petrol or diesel are about 1%.
This article is part of my EV FAQ series, where I answer common questions about electric cars. Want to jump to the video version? Here's my YouTube video that answers the same question: “What happens when you run out of battery in your electric car?”
Prefer to read? The EV battery FAQ continues below.
What happens when you run out of battery?
The thing is, when your EV’s display reads 0%, you haven't run out of charge — not quite. The reason is that most EVs will keep some power in reserve after zero. Should you be running your battery that low? Probably not. But if you do get to that stage, trust that you still have some miles in reserve — usually enough to get you to the next charger.
In fact, US automotive retailer CarMax did a great test with a Tesla, where they drove 25 miles after 0%. There's nothing sudden about running out of charge.
People also ask:
What happens when an electric car runs out of charge?
Your EV will warn you before this happens and will prompt you to find a charger. This typically starts when you drop below 10%, and may increase in urgency the lower the number gets.
Once you hit zero, your EV will likely enter tortoise mode (often called turtle mode), limiting power and speed to give you enough energy to reach a charger. Once it's truly at 0%, your vehicle will come to a standstill.
What to do if your electric car runs out of charge?
If you're at risk of fully running out of charge, find somewhere to safely pull over so you're out of traffic. Then, you just need to treat the situation as you would any breakdown. Where appropriate, engage your hazard lights and if you're on the hard shoulder, get out of the car and follow the usual procedures.
From there, call your breakdown service. If you don’t have one, contact a local recovery company or speak to one of the national operators who can often onboard you over the phone to begin your breakdown recovery service there and then.
What happens when an electric car goes to zero?
When an EV reaches single-digits, the onboard tech will prompt you to recharge as a matter of urgency. This varies in all vehicles but is usually an alarm and/or a driver display notification. If you hit 0%, your priority should be to pull over as soon as you can safely do so — ideally at the nearest charging station on your route.
Practical advice if you run out of charge
Your EV’s driver display will show you your battery percentage and remaining mileage, so there’s plenty of time to find a charger before it reaches 0%.
If you’re running low but have some range left, find a nearby charger: Equip yourself with ZapMap and Co Charger, which will give you access to nearby public and privately owned chargers.
If you do find yourself at 0%, your vehicle will limit its energy expenditure and go into tortoise mode. Use this time to safely pull over and engage your hazard lights.
If you do have to stop, call your breakdown service; they are trained for EV eventualities like this, and often use mobile charging units that provide a top-up charge that's enough to make it to the nearest public charger.
If you've just started your EV ownership journey, it's natural to have this kind of query! Running out of charge is a worry, yes, but actually, you’ve got the tools to ensure this won’t happen, and should it, you now know what to do.
If you’re a new EV owner or are thinking of making the switch, I believe there are no silly questions! So if you’ve got something else EV-related on your mind, I might have the answer for you here, on my YouTube EV FAQ series.
Further resources
Charging doesn't have to be a chore. Check out Charge Happy to find chargers that are more than just a place to plug in.
The truth about range anxiety - In this video, I share the truth about how EV drivers feel about range and the prospect of running out of charge.