Electric car transport, as a single dedicated movement

Electric car transport without a single added mile

SKORTA carries one car at a time. Your electric car travels as a single dedicated movement — never part of a shared load on a multi-car transporter, never shuffled between depots or handed to a subcontractor. The same crew that straps it down at collection is the crew that rolls it off at the far end, which is the only honest way to keep a genuine chain of custody over something valuable.

For an EV that matters in a particular way. On a conventional trade shipment, cars are often driven on and off, moved around yards and occasionally short-hopped under their own power; every one of those movements adds miles, wear and the small risk of a kerbed wheel or a careless door. We load your car once and unload it once, over a few metres, and it stays exactly where it was placed for the whole journey. Delivery mileage stays delivery mileage.

Soft straps go over the tyres, never over the bodywork or the battery casing, so the car is held by its wheels and its own suspension rather than by anything that could mark paint or stress the underfloor pack. At both ends we produce a signed, photographed condition report, recorded with you, so the state of the car — and its charge — is documented rather than remembered.

State of charge: your battery is never driven or drained

The most common worry we hear about moving an electric car is range: does the battery need to be full, and will it be flat on arrival. Neither. Because the car is carried rather than driven, state of charge has almost no bearing on the journey itself. Your EV only moves under its own power for the few metres of loading and unloading; a London-to-Monaco move takes exactly the same charge as rolling it up the ramp in your own driveway.

What we do ask is that the car arrives with enough charge to behave normally and a healthy 12-volt system. Modern EVs rely on a small low-voltage battery to wake the car, release the parking brake, select neutral and unlock on a key or app; if that 12-volt battery is flat, the car can be reluctant to move at all. A moderate state of charge — many manufacturers suggest somewhere around half for storage, and keeping the traction battery between roughly 20 and 80 per cent for its long-term health — is more than sufficient, and it is kinder to the pack than delivering the car brim-full.

It helps to switch off features that quietly drain the batteries in transit: sentry or guard modes, cabin pre-conditioning, always-on connectivity and scheduled charging. We will talk this through before collection, note the charge on the condition report, and hand the car over in the same state. If your EV needs a specific procedure to reach neutral or to disable creep for loading, tell us — every marque does it slightly differently, and knowing in advance keeps the load calm and unhurried.

Weight, ground clearance and secure loading

Electric cars are heavy. A battery pack can add several hundred kilograms over an equivalent petrol model, and a large electric SUV or saloon can push well beyond two tonnes before anyone climbs in. That weight is the first thing we plan around: the car's kerb weight has to sit comfortably within the trailer's rated payload, and it changes how the car is winched, positioned over the axles and lashed down. We confirm the exact model and weight when we quote, rather than discovering it on the driveway.

Ground clearance is the second consideration. Many EVs sit low, and performance models lower still; the flat "skateboard" floor that houses the battery means there is often little to spare underneath. A steep loading angle that a tall 4x4 would shrug off can catch a low front splitter or scrape a battery undertray. We load on shallow ramp angles, use trailers suited to low cars, and make use of any raise or transport mode the car offers. Where a car cannot safely drive on at all, it is winched on gently rather than forced.

Securing a heavy, low EV is then done through the wheels. Over-tyre straps and wheel nets hold the car by its contact patches and let the suspension work, which avoids loading the body or the battery structure and keeps everything settled over long motorway miles. It is the same method we use for low, delicate cars generally — you can read more on our supercar transport and prestige car transport pages — and it suits the weight distribution of an EV especially well.

Enclosed or open transport for your EV

Both of our trailers are available for electric cars. An open aluminium tilt-bed is a clean, quick and cost-effective way to move an EV, and for many journeys it is entirely appropriate. It carries the same single-car, single-crew, over-tyre-strap care as everything we do; the car simply travels in the open air.

An enclosed trailer adds a sealed, weatherproof shell around the car. For a valuable EV that usually comes down to three things: protection, from motorway grit, stone chips, salt and weather that can pit a fresh finish or work at delicate aero trim; privacy, because a sealed trailer keeps a rare or personal car out of sight for the whole journey; and stable conditions, keeping road spray and winter salt away from a car you would rather not expose. For a new delivery, a concours car, a wrapped or freshly detailed finish, or anything you would simply prefer no one saw, enclosed is the natural choice.

There is no mechanical reason an EV must travel enclosed — a healthy electric car is perfectly happy on an open trailer — so the decision is about value, discretion and finish rather than necessity. We are glad to talk through which makes sense for your car and route, and the on-site estimate lets you compare the two directly.

Hybrids and plug-in hybrids

The same approach covers hybrids and plug-in hybrids. A PHEV carries both a traction battery and a combustion engine, which means two things to keep an eye on rather than one, but the handling principle is identical: the car is carried, not driven, so neither the battery nor the fuel tank needs to be at any particular level. As with a full EV, a healthy 12-volt battery and a sensible charge make loading straightforward.

Self-charging hybrids behave much like a conventional car for our purposes, with the same low-voltage waking and neutral-selection quirks to be aware of. Whatever the drivetrain, tell us the exact model when you enquire; the details that matter for loading — weight, clearance, how the car reaches neutral, whether it needs power on to release the brake — vary far more by model than by fuel type.

Electric car transport across Britain and into Europe

We carry electric cars across Britain and over the Channel to France, Monaco, Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, the Benelux countries and beyond, with the same crew for the entire route. There are no depots and no changing hands at the port; the car is loaded once in the UK and stays put until it reaches you on the Continent.

A carried EV sidesteps the practical friction of driving one abroad — no detours to find a working rapid charger, no queueing, no unfamiliar connectors or payment apps, and no miles added crossing a country. Post-Brexit, moving a vehicle into the EU involves customs formalities and a CMR consignment note for the international leg; these are ordinary paperwork realities of cross-Channel car transport rather than anything unique to electric cars, and we handle the movement so the car travels correctly documented. Any duty, tax or registration position for your specific car and destination is worth confirming with a customs agent, as it depends on the car's status and yours.

Preparing your EV, and getting an indicative estimate

Preparing an electric car for collection is light work. Leave a sensible state of charge and a healthy 12-volt battery; switch off sentry, guard and pre-conditioning modes along with any scheduled charging; and let us know the procedure to select neutral and release the parking brake if it is not obvious. Remove personal items and toll tags, note the current mileage, and have the key or card ready to hand over. If the car has a raised transport or jacking mode, mention it — it can make loading a low car noticeably easier.

From there, the crew confirms a fixed written quotation before collection and produces a signed photographic condition report at both ends, recording the car's condition and its charge. To see indicative pricing for your route and to compare an open trailer against an enclosed one, get an indicative estimate using the calculator; it is a genuine guide to the cost, with the firm figure confirmed by the crew once we have the details of your car.