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What to do if…
your electric vehicle displays a high-voltage or battery system warning

Produced and maintained by PanicStation.org Published: Last reviewed: Editorial policy USA guide

Short answer

Pull over safely as soon as you can. If the warning is red, says to stop, limits power, or you notice smoke, heat, hissing, popping, a burning smell, or visible damage, treat it as urgent and call for help; call 911 if there are fire or battery danger signs.

Do not do these things

  • Don’t keep driving to “make it home” if the warning says stop, turns red, or the vehicle reduces power.
  • Don’t keep cycling the vehicle on and off trying to clear the warning; stop safely first and follow the on-screen instruction and roadside advice.
  • Don’t touch, cut, open, or move anything high-voltage, and don’t go near orange high-voltage cables or damaged components.
  • Don’t plug in to charge after an urgent or unclear battery or high-voltage warning until the owner’s manual, roadside assistance, or service support says it is safe.
  • Don’t park in an attached garage or close to buildings or other vehicles if there is smoke, heat, hissing, popping, a burning smell, visible damage, fire, or a post-crash battery concern.
  • Don’t accept towing that drags driven wheels on the ground unless your owner’s manual explicitly allows it; ask for a flatbed or rollback tow if unsure.

What to do now

  1. Get to a safer pause. Signal, slow down, and pull over to a safe location. If you can choose, stop away from heavy traffic, buildings, parked vehicles, dry brush, and charging equipment.
  2. If you are stopped somewhere risky, such as a narrow shoulder, low visibility area, or fast traffic, prioritize getting people away from traffic. If you feel in immediate danger, call 911.
  3. Secure the vehicle. Select Park if available, set the parking brake if you can, turn on hazard lights, and power the vehicle fully off.
  4. Do a quick safety check without troubleshooting. From outside the vehicle, look and listen for smoke, steam, vapor, hissing, popping, whistling, unusual heat, a burning smell, leaking fluids, sparks, flames, or visible damage.
  5. If any of those signs are present, or there is any fire, move well away from the vehicle, upwind if you can do that safely, keep others back, and call 911. Tell dispatch it is an electric vehicle and you suspect a battery or high-voltage issue.
  6. If there are no danger signs, read the exact wording and color of the message. Treat “stop safely now,” “pull over,” “high-voltage system fault,” “battery system malfunction,” or “limited power” as do-not-drive-until-checked unless your owner’s manual or manufacturer’s roadside support clearly says otherwise.
  7. Call EV-appropriate help and say the battery warning up front. Call your manufacturer’s roadside assistance, your insurer’s roadside assistance, or a roadside assistance provider that can handle EVs. Tell them:
    • the exact high-voltage or battery-system warning message,
    • your location and whether you are in a risky roadside position,
    • whether there is any smell, heat, smoke, hissing, popping, leak, or visible damage,
    • whether the warning appeared while charging.
  8. If it needs towing, ask the provider to follow your owner’s manual towing method. If you can safely access the manual on your phone, look up the towing or recovery page so you can relay any special requirements.
  9. Document the alert if it takes less than a minute. Take a photo of the warning message, time, mileage, and whether you were driving, parked, or charging.
  10. Until emergency responders, roadside assistance, the owner’s manual, or service support says it is safe, don’t charge the vehicle, don’t move it unnecessarily, and keep people clear of it.

What can wait

  • You don’t need to diagnose what the warning really means right now.
  • You don’t need to decide whether it is the traction battery, inverter, charging system, software, or 12-volt system at the roadside.
  • You don’t need to negotiate repairs immediately; focus on a safe stop and safe recovery.

Important reassurance

These warnings can happen for a range of reasons, including issues that are repairable. The safest first step is to treat a high-voltage or battery-system warning as safety-relevant until the vehicle instructions, roadside support, or a qualified technician confirms what to do next.

Scope note

These are first steps only. Later decisions about diagnosis, repair, warranty, insurance, towing charges, storage, or replacement transport may need specialist help.

Important note

This is general safety information, not mechanical, legal, financial, medical, therapeutic, or other professional advice. If the vehicle tells you to stop, or you notice smoke, heat, hissing, popping, odors, leaks, visible damage, or fire, treat it as urgent and involve emergency services and professional roadside recovery.

Additional Resources

Closely connected guides that may be useful during the same situation or its immediate aftermath.

About this guide

This guide was produced and is maintained by PanicStation.org using its published editorial process. Official and specialist sources are checked where relevant, and AI-assisted tools may be used for drafting, organisation, and consistency checks. The site operator remains responsible for publication, revision, and removal decisions.

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