How do you maintain and service an electric car?

While electric cars are being pushed to the forefront of the UK’s eco-friendly plan to reach net zero, a lot of people can find it confusing to understand how electric cars work. Electric vehicles, or plug-in vehicles, work differently to petrol and diesel models as they have different parts. This means keeping an electric car up to date is a bit different to a conventional vehicle too. Here’s our full guide on how to maintain and service an electric car!

Are EVs less maintenance than conventional vehicles?

You may have heard that it’s easier to maintain and service an electric car than it is a petrol or diesel model, and this is true!! Conventional vehicles have internal combustion engines which have hundreds of moving parts. This means there’s a lot that could go wrong. 

In comparison, electric vehicles only have a handful of components which can result in less maintenance. With that in mind, electric vehicles do have some complex electric parts such as high voltage relays, inverters and air conditioning pumps. 

With that in mind, what kind of maintenance do electric cars need? Although electric car batteries have been proven to be very robust, you will want to read through the manufacturer’s charging recommendations to keep it in good condition. Generally, this will mean ensuring the battery doesn’t completely run flat and recharging the battery to roughly 80% charge.  

Similarly to an ICE vehicle, you’ll need to look at regularly maintaining parts like the brakes, tyres and wipers. However, could we see the end of tyre wear for good? Recently Goodyear announced that they are trialling their airless tires on a Tesla Model 3 and it seems to be going well.

According to their reports, the airless tyres perform well even at impressive high speeds. These tyres are immune to punctures and could become a game changer since they’re supposedly maintenance-free. When you’re driving an electric car you also won’t need to worry about topping up engine oil or replacing timing belts!

What is the biggest cause of EV breakdowns?

Can you take a guess what causes electric vehicles to break down the most? It’s actually nothing specific to electric cars at all! The AA report that the most common EV breakdowns they respond to are for the 12V battery – which also features in all petrol and diesel vehicles! 

Other than that, the next biggest causes are due to tyre faults due to potholes, punctures and wear. Again, this isn’t directly related to driving an electric car! For those who are overly-worried about breaking down in an electric vehicle due to running out of charge, you should reconsider your fears.

Not only has the driving range on electric cars improved massively, but so has the public network of chargers. In fact, the AA says that less than 1% of all the EV breakdowns they respond to are due to running out of charge!

How often do I need to service an electric car?

 We would recommend checking the manufacturer’s service schedule for any electric vehicle. But, usually, electric cars need to be serviced as regularly as conventional vehicles. There aren’t any legal requirements to how often you should service any vehicle, but generally we’d recommend every 12 months or 10,000 miles – whichever comes first.

Unlike generally servicing, your electric car will need a valid MOT every year as do petrol and diesel vehicles. Fail to update your cars MOT and you could be at risk of receiving a £1,000 fine.

As there are fewer parts to an electric car, there may be less to check during a service so this might not take as long. You’re also less likely to be bombarded with a long list of repairs.