Whether you believe that electric and hybrid vehicles are the future of motoring or not, there is no denying that they are becoming more and more popular. With improvements in the technology and the infrastructure to allow a user to charge their vehicle when and where they please, it is likely that this trend will continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Autoshippers<\/a> we are receiving more and more requests from customers looking to ship their electric vehicles overseas, and are being asked the same questions. So, we\u2019ve put together the below guide to answer the question of How to Ship an Electric Car Overseas<\/em> and other frequently asked questions about EV shipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The services outlined below assume that the destination country allows the import of electric cars. Some countries, like the USA, have strict guidelines on what vehicles are allowed in. If you are unsure of the relevant customs rules and regulations in your destination country, please contact us and we will give you the latest information for your chosen destination. It is imperative that you “know before you go!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contents:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As reported by the Institute\nof Export & International Trade<\/a> in October 2022, UK car\nmanufacturing output fell by 6% in September 2022, and this was the first\ndecrease in output in 4 months. There was also a decline in exports by over 7%,\nwith reductions in volumes shipped to the EU and US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, makers of electric and hybrid vehicles saw a growth in\noutput of almost 10%, having a record share of 37.8% of the total output.\nElectric car exports now represent over a third of the value of all car\nexports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Autoshippers are based on one of Europe\u2019s largest car shipping\nports at Portbury, Bristol. As of this year, for example, Mazda chose Bristol\nfor its first direct UK import route, alongside their European direct ports\nBarcelona, Antwerp and Zeebrugge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This includes imports of the Mazda 2 Hybrid model, which is\ncurrently being manufactured in France and will arrive into Bristol Portbury\ndock utilising Ro\/Ro services (more detail on this further on in this article)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite a decline of overall used car sales of over 12% for the third quarter of 2022, sales of second-hand electric cars increased by 44%, and the market reached a record high according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can see that electric and hybrid cars are becoming more prevalent in both the new and second-hand car marketplace, and due to the location of the main car company manufacturing plants, will be required to be shipped around the world, including into and out of UK ports such as Portbury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A little bit of explaining first. An electric vehicle, or \u201cEV\u201d, is a vehicle that is either fully or partially powered using electricity. A partially electric-powered car, which runs on a mixture of electric and petrol\/diesel power, is known as a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV). These days, either type of electric vehicle is likely to be powered fully or partially by a Lithium Ion Battery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “But my diesel car also has a battery”, I hear you say. In a standard petrol or diesel engine, the car battery is part of the starting process of a vehicle, and also provides power for things like lights, stereo etc when the engine is switched off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In an Electric vehicle, the Lithium Ion Battery and electric motor\nreplaces the requirement of a combustion engine powered by fossil fuels such as\npetrol or diesel. A PHEV runs on a mixture of battery and petrol\/diesel power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is the Lithium battery in an electric or hybrid vehicle that\nmakes it different to a standard petrol\/diesel powered vehicle when shipping\noverseas. Lithium Batteries are considered dangerous cargo for shipping,\nincluding Lithium batteries that are in equipment, such as laptops, mobile\nphones and of course, electric or hybrid cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is due to the potential of lithium batteries to overheat and ignite, and this has been blamed for fires on board aircraft and seagoing vessels causing the International Maritime Organisation and the International Air Transport Association to classify them as dangerous cargo for air and sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This doesn\u2019t mean that you are unable to ship items, such as electric or hybrid cars<\/strong>, that have lithium batteries in them, it just means that there is certain legislation attached to the shipping of these goods. Some carriers may ask for documentation to be completed, and others may ask that the battery is below a certain \u201cstate of charge\u201d (SOC) before they accept your car for shipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These regulations may change from time to time, so it is best to\ncheck at the time of quoting\/booking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The short answer? Yes, you can ship an electric or hybrid car via Ro\/Ro and the cost is usually the same as a standard diesel\/petrol car.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n At Autoshippers we have shipped many electric vehicles on our Ro\/Ro services, without the need for additional paperwork or added costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ro\/Ro services (Roll on \/ Roll off) use specially built vessels which allow vehicles to be driven on and off meaning that they do not need to be loaded into shipping containers. The vehicles are stowed below decks, and are securely lashed in place for safety during sea transport. You can find out more about how RoRo shipping works here: This shipping option is used by all major car manufacturers, including\nBMW, Audi, Renault, Porsche and Mazda, and car shipping companies worldwide and\nhas become over recent years more and more popular due to worldwide container\nrates and issues with schedule integrity on container ships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This also includes Tesla, who utilise Ro\/Ro services from their\nmanufacturing plant in China to European ports on a regular basis. In fact,\naccording to CNN Business Tesla has\nnow built one million cars in China<\/a> some of which were for export to\nmarkets such as the UK and Europe and were safely shipped using Roll on Roll\noff (RoRo) vessels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the time of writing, however, some Ro\/Ro carriers are now no longer taking sea freight bookings for used electric and hybrid vehicles. Hoegh Autoliners and Wallenius Wilhelmsen, who between them operate around 170 RoRo vessels, have advised Autoshippers that they will only accept bookings for new electric or hybrid vehicles and not used ones as <\/p>\n\n\n\n We have other options, such as K-Line who have a fleet of 79 Ro\/Ro\nvessels over 20 trading routes, that will still take second-hand electric or\nhybrid vehicles as long as they are in sound condition and the state of charge\nis known and sufficient to load on and off the vessel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The short answer is no<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although classed as dangerous goods for container shipping, Ro\/Ro\ncarriers do not require to have the battery removed or disconnected for\noverseas transport, and we suggest it is not something that you should attempt\nif you are being told to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you take Tesla, for example, there are around 143 steps\ninvolved in removing the battery and a further 171 to put it back, according to\nelectrek<\/a>, which is\na website covering the transition from fossil-fuel transport to electric\ntransport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a difficult and costly process, as you can see, so not\ncost-effective in any way if you are being advised that your best shipping\noption is the removal of your battery to ship as non-hazardous cargo,\npotentially in a shipping container. It may even invalidate any warranty you\nhave and, in some cases, we have heard that to have the battery re-fitted a\nvehicle needed to be shipped back to the UK!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The removal of the battery is NOT an absolute requirement for Ro\/Ro shipping, again making it the most cost-effective and easiest way to ship your electric or hybrid car overseas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we have discussed above, certain carriers may ask for different\ndocumentation and\/or regulations to be followed before they accept bookings for\nelectric or hybrid vehicles. However, we have found a general consensus that\nyou do not have to disconnect the battery to ship an electric or hybrid car via\nsea freight or air freight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, some manufacturers of electric and hybrid vehicles have\ntheir own safety measures employed to prevent their batteries from being a\ndanger during shipping. These include specialised sensors to disconnect the\nbatteries if it detects that the temperature is too high, and an electronic\ncooling system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bear in mind though, that not all manufacturers may employ such\nsafety devices, but even electric or hybrid cars manufactured by these\ncompanies do not generally need to have their batteries disconnected for\nshipping on Ro\/Ro services. In all cases Autoshippers will advise you of all\nthe necessary procedures and documentation required before we ship your\nvehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As well as our Ro\/Ro services, we can also offer other shipping options for electric and hybrid cars. For some destinations, we have our R-RAK service<\/a>, but for others you may need to opt for our dedicated container service<\/a> (FCL).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our R-RAK service is a groupage shipping service that enables up to 4 vehicles to be shipped in a standard 40\u2019 shipping container. We can currently accept electric and hybrid vehicles on our R-RAK shipping services to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Cyprus and Hong Kong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FCL services for different carriers currently have differing\nregulations for shipping electric and hybrid cars. Some carriers specify the\nmaximum charge your battery should have for transport, some require additional\ndocumentation to be completed and others specify that the vehicle is loaded in\nspecialised refrigerated containers, such as CMA CGM, who are the 3rd largest\ncontainer shipping company in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These different rules and regulations are likely to result in additional costs for shipping electric or hybrid cars on FCL services, but usually, for our R-RAK services, the cost is the same as a diesel\/petrol car. Please check with us at the time of quotation, and we can give you all the options that are available for your preferred destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As explained above, for our FCL dedication shipping container\nservices, there may be additional costs for shipping electric or hybrid cars, due\nto the additional regulations imposed by the carrier on your particular routing\n(for example if a refrigerated container is required)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our R-RAK services, and our Ro\/Ro services aren\u2019t currently affected by additional costs for shipping electric and hybrid cars. Below gives you costs from port to port based on these services, as of today, but please request a quotation to confirm current pricing as freight costs can fluctuate;<\/p>\n\n\n\nAre Electric Cars Becoming More Popular?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How Are Electric Cars Different From \u201cNormal\u201d Cars?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What Makes Shipping Electric Cars Different?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Shipping Electric Vehicles (EVs) by Roll-on\/Roll-off<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Can I Ship an Electric or Hybrid Car via Ro\/Ro?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/www.autoshippers.co.uk\/roro_car_shipping.htm<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\nDo I Have to Remove the Battery When Shipping Electric and\nHybrid Cars on Ro\/Ro Services?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Should I Disconnect the Battery to Ship my Electric or Hybrid Car?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Shipping Electric or Hybrid Cars in Containers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What Is the Cost of Shipping Electric or Hybrid Cars?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n