https://jalopnik.com/a-tesla-bricking-itself-on-the-highway-is-a-reminder-th-1847734019 * The A.V. Club * Deadspin * Gizmodo * Jalopnik * Jezebel * Kotaku * Lifehacker * The Root * The Takeout * * The Onion * * The Inventory ShopSubscribe HomeLatestCar BuyingCar CultureTruck YeahBeyond CarsWrenchingTech Racing HomeLatestCar BuyingCar CultureTruck YeahBeyond CarsWrenchingTech Racing Tech A Tesla Bricking Itself On The Highway Is A Reminder That Electric Cars Need To Solve Their Neutral Problem Getting a disabled EV into neutral so it can be moved is actually a huge problem that needs to be solved By Jason Torchinsky Today 8:30AM Comments (284) Alerts Image for article titled A Tesla Bricking Itself On The Highway Is A Reminder That Electric Cars Need To Solve Their Neutral Problem Image: Tesla/JDT Cars break down.We all know this is true. As someone with decades of experience driving barely-operable shitboxes, I have lived this truth many times over. One saving grace of dealing with broken down cars is that they're almost always still able to roll, the bare, absolute minimum you can expect from a car, and as such were at least able to be pushed out of harm's way. This isn't the case with electric cars, though, and I think this is a real problem. A recent scary incident with a Tesla on the highway reminded me why. Advertisement Here's the incident with the Tesla, recounted via tweets by the owner: If you didn't read through the thread, I'll summarize here: the Tesla owner was driving their Model S P85D on the highway, when the car begins to beep and warn that he needs to pull over immediately due to some power issue. Immediately after warning, all controls lock up, and the car comes to a halt, in the middle of a six-lane highway, leaving him no time to try and steer the car onto the shoulder, out of traffic. The car will not budge from this point; it won't go into neutral, the parking brake won't release. It's no longer a vehicle, it's an immobile bit of sculpture blinking its hazard lights in the middle of the highway. G/O Media may get a commission BAKBLADE 2.0 Plus DIY Back Hair Removal & Body Shaver 23% off BAKBLADE 2.0 Plus DIY Back Hair Removal & Body Shaver Shave your own back! Designed to give the cleanest, closest and safest shave on the market. Buy for $30 at StackSocial The driver was, thankfully, able to get to the shoulder, and thanks to some nearby Caltrans workers, was able to get the car coned off to help direct traffic around it, which was extremely lucky. About 45 minutes later, a tow truck finally arrived. It's also worth noting that Teslas (and nearly all other EVs) require a flat bed-type tow truck, so it's not like just any tow truck would have done the job. Advertisement Also, based on this tweet, it looks like the tow driver didn't get the car rolling, either, and just pulled it up, with the rear wheels still locked, onto the bed: Advertisement This particular incident involved a Tesla, but this is really an industry-wide problem with EVs. Every EV has some way to get the car into neutral, but based on the research I've done so far, all of the major EVs sold require the car to be at least partially functional to access the controls to get it into a tow or free-rolling mode, as these are usually accessed through the cars' center-stack touch screen. For Ford and Tesla, the procedures definitely require the touch screen to be functional, which means at least some 12V or main battery power must be accessible: Image for article titled A Tesla Bricking Itself On The Highway Is A Reminder That Electric Cars Need To Solve Their Neutral Problem Screenshot: Tesla, Ford Advertisement For the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Bolt, it appears that when these cars lose both main battery power and/or 12V battery power, the cars automatically shift into neutral, at least from what the owners' manuals seem to say: Image for article titled A Tesla Bricking Itself On The Highway Is A Reminder That Electric Cars Need To Solve Their Neutral Problem Screenshot: Chevy, Nissan Advertisement This seems like a better solution, even if it does require blocking wheels, but looking around at forums for Leaf owners and Bolt owners there seems to be issues getting the cars into neutral as well, especially if the 12V battery is discharged. The ability for a car to just freely roll seems like an important maintenance and safety feature, and from what I can tell, it's not something the current state of EVs handles well at all. Advertisement All EVs should have a mechanical, unpowered, easily accessible emergency way to get the drivetrain disconnected from the wheels so the car can be moved if dead. I don't necessarily think this is easy to engineer--if it was, I suspect at least a few EVs would have such a setup--but I do think it's important. The incident with the Tesla driver is a perfect and alarming example of why this is important. If something fails on your car, you should at the very least be able to get it somewhere safe, where its not posing a danger to you or other drivers. Advertisement With combustion cars, there's almost always a way to get the car into neutral. Sure, it's possible to have a transmission crap out so badly it locks the wheels, or a brake issue where the wheels lock, but compared to all of the other reasons a combustion car might choose to break down, they're comparatively rare. Besides, EVs like that Tesla will lock up by design; they way they're engineered is why they don't default to neutral and instead go into park and set the brakes. The fact that the Leaf and Bolt don't seem to do that (at least not by default) suggests that it is possible to fail into a neutral state. Advertisement I think this could be important enough to merit some sort of mandated requirement, a regulation that states that all EVs must have a mechanical way to get into a free-wheeling state regardless of the condition of the battery or drivetrain. While we're at it, we should mandate that all doors and trunks and whatever can be opened from the outside even if the main and 12V batteries die. Tesla Model 3s don't have emergency releases for the rear doors, for example. Advertisement These requirements feel like the absolute basics: if your car dies, you should be able to push it to safety, or even tow it, at least for short distances without causing major harm. And, you should be able to open the damn doors and hood. EVs are absolutely going to be on the roads in greater and greater numbers from here on out. Now is the time for us, as owners and drivers, to make clear what our minimum requirements are of these machines, and I think a guaranteed way to get into neutral has to be part of that. Tech DISCUSSION By ivan256 I've already replied to this story, but there's this other part that I can't help but comment on: About 45 minutes later, a tow truck finally arrived.It's also worth noting that Teslas (and nearly all other EVs) require a flat bed-type tow truck, so it's not like just any tow truck would have done the job. That is fucking obscene. Seriously? 45 minutes? This is the type of thing that can only happen when you have a protectionist partnership between government and private industry. (Previous paragraph mangled because it has a link to the CHP-FSP in it, apparently) Do you have competition for the job? No. Is some elected official to blame when you have epic traffic backups because you couldn't move a stationary object off the highway in the 10 minutes it should have taken? No. You have the worst of both worlds and a pile of bullshit with a daisy stuck in it telling you how wonderful it is. Also, ANY tow truck would have done here. Because the job of the State of California should have been to get the hazard out of the road as quickly as humanly possible for both safety and because tens of thousands of people lost hours of their life to this. If it took a bulldozer to get the car out of the road quickly, then they should have used one. But a normal tow truck would have done fine. If it hurt the car.... Well so be it. See all 284 comments