The Costs of Hybrid & Electric Shipping Hybrid & electric delivery costs vary depending on your moving details. Due to larger batteries and increased weight, many car transportation companies will charge more for you to transport your hybrid or electric car. The transportation process is the same for an electric car as it is for an ordinary vehicle, and professional car transportation companies should not charge you a premium to have an electric car. Shipping a hybrid or electric car could help you save even more money, eliminating the need to drive the vehicle to your destination.
Getting your vehicle shipped from a professional car hauler is the best way to ensure that it gets to where it needs to go without you having to worry about it. If you have an electric vehicle and you have to have it transported cross-country, and possibly across the world, the process can seem overwhelming. If you are the proud owner of an electric car and need to have it transported across country, the process may seem overwhelming. Driving your electric car across the country might be more than just a possibility for you; it is also complicated by a dearth of charging stations when compared with traditional gas stations.
While electric cars are fantastic in areas where there are plenty of charging stations available, driving one cross-country may prove challenging unless you have an available route that has plenty of dedicated charging stations along the way. When the batteries in your vehicle are running low, you’d better avoid driving directly into an isolated area that has just a single public charging station. As I learned the hard way, charging stations can be closed for maintenance, busy charging other vehicles, or just unable to communicate with your particular vehicle for any reason. While the overall supercharging network is growing in large metro areas around the country, finding charging locations in rural locations on a long-distance road trip can be difficult.
Even if it all works exactly the way you want — if your vehicle can charge at 200 or 270kW or higher, if a charger is right where you need one, if it is running at maximum output — you are still sitting there three, four, five times longer than if you were adding that same range in a internal-combustion car. A charging battery is not going to change a cars weight. A full battery charge will help to prevent any issues with your battery while it is being transported. Charging your battery completely will make sure that you will have a little bit of life left in the vehicle when you get it to its new home.
A charged battery will help because when you are loading and unloading the vehicle at its final destination, usually there is a little bit of driving involved. As long as the battery is protected against shorts and prevented from moving, you do not have to run down the car battery prior to shipping. If you want to ensure that your cars battery will have some juice left when the car arrives at the destination, then the best practice is to recharge the car battery prior to shipment. Because of energy losses, you can expect the battery to lose some juice during the transportation process.
Because your electric vehicle will be loaded on a motor carrier and does not need any stops at charging stations, your transportation time is unaffected, and it should take as long as shipping a gas-powered vehicle. It is also not that much different to send an electric car versus shipping a gas-powered car to another state, city, or international location. It might sound fancy to send your vehicle to another country, but it is a better choice in certain circumstances. Open-air vehicle shipping is also one of the most cost-effective ways of moving your vehicle from one city to another, across state lines, or one side of the country to another.
You can have a vehicle shipped right by Tesla, but that is costly (typically $1,500) and uses open-air auto transporters. Because car-shipping companies charge based on weight, you might need to pay a bit extra to get your EV to where you need to go.
Since batteries in electric cars make the total weight of your vehicle heavier, you could wind up paying more. In general, the significantly larger batteries result in heavier cars, and this can result in extra costs too many carriers and consumers.
Inoperable vehicles require specialized equipment and require more time for loading and unloading, increasing shipping costs. Shipping an EV also can involve extra legwork for a transportation company’s time, such as education about lithium batteries, getting special permits, and providing specific equipment for safe movement of batteries.
While your electric vehicle will be subjected to a comprehensive 22-point inspection when you pick it up, it is important to take the time you need to prep the car as well, prior to when transportation is scheduled. Before transportation, all cars must undergo a regular service check.
If you do that before you get in touch with a company, you will get ahead in the transporting process. There is a process in place to transport your vehicle internationally, and if you attempt to speed up the process, you are more than likely going to end up frustrated and disappointed.
Your electric car will be turned off for the duration of the auto-shipping process, meaning that shipping it is no more dangerous than a conventional vehicle. No matter what options you choose, your car will be protected with a variety of safety devices and covered under insurance for the entire transportation process. The best way to receive an accurate estimate for your hybrid or electric car shipment is to contact a company that transports hybrids and electric vehicles, such as Nationwide United Auto Transport, who can give you an instant car shipment quote based on your specific needs.