Who Will Tow or Charge Your EV When It Runs Out? Every Provider's Policy (2026)

If your EV runs out of charge in Australia, every state motoring club will tow you to the nearest charger under your plan’s towing allowance, five of them can send a mobile charger instead in their capital city, Allianz is the only major insurer add-on that explicitly covers it, and most carmaker programs, including Tesla’s, either will not pay for the tow or will not say. The distance you are covered for ranges from nothing on the cheapest tiers to 200 km on RACV’s Total Care and 300 km in the country on RAC WA’s top plan. This page puts every provider’s published out-of-charge policy in one table, with what we could and could not verify, so you know before it happens who to call and what it will cost. If it is happening right now, our guide to what to do when an EV runs out of charge comes first.

What do the motoring clubs do when an EV runs out of charge?

The clubs are the only providers that publish a real EV policy, and all seven say the same thing in principle: an out-of-charge EV is a breakdown, you are covered on every plan, and the patrol either charges you enough to reach a charger or tows you there. The differences are in the towing distance, which is set by your plan tier, and in whether a mobile charger exists in your city.

Figures are from each club’s published plan pages as recorded on our provider reviews (linked), with RACV’s 200 km and RAA’s towing tiers re-read on the clubs’ sites on 20 October 2026. RACV’s wording is the clearest in the market: “We’ll tow you to the nearest accessible charging station or your preferred destination up to 200km in any direction, when out of charge.” Plan prices and tiers change, so confirm the current allowance when you join.

Two patterns worth noticing. Mobile charging is a capital-city service everywhere it exists; break down on the Hume, the Bruce or the Stuart and you are getting a truck, counted against your towing allowance. And the cheap tiers are a trap for EV owners specifically: RACQ Everyday Lite has no towing, RAA Standard tows 10 km, and a petrol car on those plans gets a jerry can where an EV gets a bill.

Which carmaker roadside programs tow an EV to a charger?

Most of them do not say, and the one that does says no. Complimentary carmaker programs are built around warranty faults and tow to the nearest dealer, not the nearest fast charger; our manufacturer roadside review covers the terms brand by brand.

The practical rule: if you drive a Tesla or any brand in the bottom row and you do regional distances, treat the carmaker program as warranty cover and a motoring club as your out-of-charge cover. Our best roadside assistance for EVs guide ranks the combinations.

Which insurer roadside add-ons cover running out of charge?

One, explicitly. Allianz lists “your electric car runs out of charge” among the reasons it attends, tows up to 50 km on its Basic plan (from $99 a year) and 100 km on Platinum (from $139), and sells both as standalone memberships; there is a 48-hour waiting period, and a callout inside it costs $100. AAMI mentions EVs only to exclude a breakdown caused by carelessly running out of charge, Budget Direct offers no charge delivery to EVs, and GIO and Apia publish nothing EV-specific, as our insurer roadside review found. None of them offers a mobile charger. For city driving they are cheap and adequate; for regional EV driving the clubs are safer.

Who charges an EV at the roadside without a membership?

Mobile EV Charging runs 24/7 callout vans carrying 60 kW DC fast chargers in the ACT, NSW, NT, Queensland, SA, Victoria and WA (not Tasmania), with callouts from $210 and an annual plan at $190, no membership needed. Fifteen minutes on a 60 kW unit puts 10 to 15 kWh into the car, which is 60 to 100 km of range, several times what a club’s AC top-up delivers. In Perth and the Peel region, Rapid Fuel Rescue also advertises 24/7 mobile EV charging callouts. Both are the right call when you are not a member of anything, when the club’s towing allowance will not reach a charger, or when a tow with a trailer on would mean two trucks. Call the club first if you are a member; the pay-per-callout number is the fallback.

How do you get the right truck sent?

Say “battery electric vehicle” in the first sentence of the call. EVs have to be carried on a flatbed or tilt-tray rather than dragged with the driven wheels on the road, as our EV towing guide explains, and the clubs dispatch differently once they know. Ask for the nearest accessible DC charger as the destination, not the nearest dealer or depot, and check it on our map while you wait so the driver is not taking you to a bay that is out of order. If you are towing a caravan, say so too: the van needs its own tow, and that is where a mobile charge, where one exists, beats a tow outright.

What should you buy before it happens?

In Victoria, RACV Total Care, for the 200 km. In NSW, Queensland, SA, WA and the NT, the club tier whose towing distance covers the longest gap you drive, with the mobile charger as a city bonus. In Tasmania, RACT Ultimate for the unlimited towing, since no mobile charging exists there. And if the car came with a carmaker program, keep it for warranty faults and do not rely on it for a flat battery. Policies above were verified on the providers’ sites and our provider reviews on 20 October 2026; the clubs change tiers and prices each year, so check before renewing.