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How do EV's do in floods?
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israndy
Supercharger Hunter
Certainly a LOT of Teslas have been damaged in the past, hurricane Sandy trashed a bunch of them in NY. Then there was that ship full of Porsche EVs that flooded and caught fire, an odd side effect of flooding an EV, that I think eventually sank the ship. YouTuber Rich Rebuilds started his career with a flooded and a rolled Model S and made one working car out of them. Salt water is the worst!
Modern Teslas have been pretty good about fording water, but they have the issue that the air vents that release HVAC air pressure are in the sub-trunk area and if the water level outside is higher than the lower trunk the water can flood the inside and if it gets in the top of the penthouse in a 3/Y it'll trash the electronics that are only watertight from the underside. Also under the dash are a bunch of PCBs that are not ready for water ingress. Not sure about the car's computer but if the water gets up there it's gonna be expensive even if the computer is watertight.
Modern Teslas have been pretty good about fording water, but they have the issue that the air vents that release HVAC air pressure are in the sub-trunk area and if the water level outside is higher than the lower trunk the water can flood the inside and if it gets in the top of the penthouse in a 3/Y it'll trash the electronics that are only watertight from the underside. Also under the dash are a bunch of PCBs that are not ready for water ingress. Not sure about the car's computer but if the water gets up there it's gonna be expensive even if the computer is watertight.
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thesmokingman
Active Member
ICE cars die almost instantly with water intake. A Tesla will float for a while. It takes a long time under water, deep under water to damage a Tesla. Someone in the Y just went thru flooding in CA. The Interior was bone dry still.
Model Y flooded. (Maybe)
2 days ago we had a flood issue. Our brand new baby model Y was in the garage when our house got flooded. the water level might have got equal to the center cap on the wheels. No dampness inside. I’ve only backed it out of the garage and it seems fine. My poor GTI which was outside and down...
teslamotorsclub.com
Just because you see these videos of Teslas driving through deep water doesn't mean you will have the same success. Maybe this guy should have had a Tesla
I used to own an old-tyme '71 VW Beetle back in the day. As cars went, they were relatively air-tight, to the point of making one's ears pop if the door got slammed.
Back when these things were $500 a pop (Really. The joke was one would buy a Caddy and get one's change in Beetles.), VW officially took note of the air-tightness of it all and, in a TV ad, drove one into a lake. Lemmee see, everything's on YouTube these days.. Found it. 1972.
Having said all that: Getting anything electrical Good and Wet is Not A Great Idea. As somebody mentioned, salt water is the worst; absolutely fresh water (like in that commercial) isn't tooooo bad, but, if one is trying to drive through a flood.. do you know where that water's been?
Don't take risks, go around.
Back when these things were $500 a pop (Really. The joke was one would buy a Caddy and get one's change in Beetles.), VW officially took note of the air-tightness of it all and, in a TV ad, drove one into a lake. Lemmee see, everything's on YouTube these days.. Found it. 1972.
Having said all that: Getting anything electrical Good and Wet is Not A Great Idea. As somebody mentioned, salt water is the worst; absolutely fresh water (like in that commercial) isn't tooooo bad, but, if one is trying to drive through a flood.. do you know where that water's been?
Don't take risks, go around.
israndy
Supercharger Hunter
Can't wait to take my CyberTruck river hopping. Gonna need a hitch mounted winch for when the tires refuse to pull me out. Or perhaps a portable one would be better so I can tie it around a tree instead of trying to get a submerged winch to pull me out.
Survived my first attempt to ford a river with my Tesla back in 2019:
or to float my car across the gap, I think the rear tires stayed on the concrete
Survived my first attempt to ford a river with my Tesla back in 2019:
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israndy
Supercharger Hunter
The guy seemed incredulous that the chargers still show as operational. At least the power electronics are above water. It's very much like those Superchargers in the Florida Keys, they expect them to flood but didn't wanna build up the parking lot. I think the v3 Superchargers might destroy the coolant pump if they flood, but the v2s don't have any electronics at the bottom other than a conduit over to the main unit with a bunch of insulated wires feeding thru. Would love to know if anything has changed in the two years since this video was posted. Everything probably works just fine still.
israndy
Supercharger Hunter
Yeah, that's a 3, I did that in mine once despite there also being an ICE car stranded in the water at the time and 4 years later I have zero issues because of it. Not advising people to do this but I did feel the rear wheels come off the ground at one point. Living on the edge.
israndy
Supercharger Hunter
If water goes in the battery pack, but the pack SHOULD be water tight, so it would only be if they have to replace the pack and during the repair they find evidence of liquid damage that they void the warranty.
This is the same issue that Apple had with iPhones, they SHOULD be water tight, but they have liquid sensors (paper that changes color when it gets wet) inside the phone and they won't cover you under warranty if your sensor is tripped. It may be Apple/Tesla's fault that your unit failed to keep water out, but all of them are made in the same factory the same way, so most likely the ones that fail were due to abuse after purchase, not just driving in wet conditions like above.
This is the same issue that Apple had with iPhones, they SHOULD be water tight, but they have liquid sensors (paper that changes color when it gets wet) inside the phone and they won't cover you under warranty if your sensor is tripped. It may be Apple/Tesla's fault that your unit failed to keep water out, but all of them are made in the same factory the same way, so most likely the ones that fail were due to abuse after purchase, not just driving in wet conditions like above.
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