Roadside assistance that will tow to a charger?

[investmentgamer]

My wife just bought a Model S 60 on Monday (at my urging) and has her first road trip this Saturday. She is experiencing some powerful range anxiety even though on paper the trip should be very doable (82 miles to supercharger, 75 miles to destination, and 75 back).

To relieve her stress I want to get a roadside assistance program that covers towing EVs to the nearest (public?) charger. Does such a program exist?

 

[kort677]

My wife just bought a Model S 60 on Monday (at my urging) and has her first road trip this Saturday. She is experiencing some powerful range anxiety even though on paper the trip should be very doable (82 miles to supercharger, 75 miles to destination, and 75 back).

To relieve her stress I want to get a roadside assistance program that covers towing EVs to the nearest (public?) charger. Does such a program exist?

tesla's road side service should be sufficient. if you want to spend more for additional coverage AAA would probably suffice. this trip as shown should be no problem for her.

 

[Gizmotoy]

Basically what kort said. Tesla will help you out if you drive it to 0 and get stuck. Additionally, a group like AAA will tow you anywhere. They have different membership levels that provide different included mileages for the tow, but they'd drop you off at a charger. Or just call a tow truck yourself (ask for a flatbed). Here in CA they have a couple trucks with generators on them for charging, but I don't think that's a thing in Massachusetts.

 

[mikeash]

Have you checked out the charger situation on PlugShare? If there are alternates along the route, that could be a substitute. If she can plug in to an L2 charger at her destination, then that should make everything easy.

 

[mblakele]

I'm surprised to hear that Tesla roadside assistance would help with this. I'm looking at a copy of the roadside assistance policy (North America 02.23.2016). It seems fairly explicit:

WHAT IS NOT COVERED?

Tesla Roadside Assistance is intended to minimize inconvenience when your vehicle is inoperable. Roadside Assistance may not be provided in certain circumstances, including but not limited to:

 Hazardous conditions (including due to acts of God or environmental conditions)

 Accidents, collisions, objects striking the vehicle, damage caused by road fixtures

 Depletion of high voltage battery
[...]​

According to the policy document, Tesla RA doesn't seem to cover very much: flat tires, "vehicle malfunctions due to warrantable issues", and lockout services "under certain conditions" — and that's it. I guess it'd be a pleasant surprise if they're more accommodating in reality, except that I find it disturbing when companies don't follow their own written policies.

I've kept my AAA membership, even though I haven't used it for years and years now.

 

[investmentgamer]

Thanks for the replies. Has anybody actually used AAA for this purpose before? The terms and conditions don't explicitly exclude towing a depleted EV but they also don't explicitly include it. In fact they exclude using the towing coverage as an alternative to proper vehicle maintenance and I can imagine that being construed to mean that it has to be charged.