Question about safe water level to drive a Tesla thru

[JCtx]

Hey gang, yesterday, my desert city (El Paso, TX) flooded in many places, due to hurricane Enrique sending over 4" of rain (in one day) over the city. We didn't drive, but got me thinking how vulnerable our Model 3 would be over water, since the battery pack is at the very bottom of the car. Does anybody know about how high the water can be, to safely drive over it? And what would happen if you drive over deeper water? Is there a risk of a fire, or the battery would just trip a breaker or something? Just curious. Thank you.

 

[GtiMart]

I think it's generally as safe as an ICE car. I wouldn't drive at a depth where water can get inside the cabin with an ICE (bottom of the doors), so I would do the same with a Tesla.

 

[X-pilot]

 

[GtiMart]

Nice one... I would never try that with any car, except to save my life. I would bet the frunk content doesn't stay dry

 

[Silicon Desert]

Nice one... I would never try that with any car, except to save my life. I would bet the frunk content doesn't stay dry

yes, I would not try that either. Op, it is not really the sealed battery that you should be concerned about. It is other damage from the water you should think about in deep water that gets into other parts of the car that don't easily dry out before it causes issues..... like perhaps mold if it gets into the car. And that assumes you don't just float away at some depth

 

[GtiMart]

You're right. People think: oh, it's electric, it'll short in a shallow puddle. Nope. And ICE cars also have all sorts of wires running around that could short, plus an air intake that cannot take more than a drop of water before the engine hydrolocks.

 

[Sorny]

You're right. People think: oh, it's electric, it'll short in a shallow puddle. Nope. And ICE cars also have all sorts of wires running around that could short, plus an air intake that cannot take more than a drop of water before the engine hydrolocks.

If ICE hydrolocked with a drop of water in the intake, nobody would ever be able to drive them... No need for hyperbole here.

 

[roblab]

Thanks for posting. It's good to know that foot-deep water is passable, and maybe even more, though I haven't needed a submarine since I lived near the Missouri river that flooded twice a year. And having water float your car off the road into the river is a really scary thing.

 

[JCtx]

Thank you guys. And yes, I'll probably never run thru any kind of water here in the desert... BUT it's good to know the car can (IF NEEDED, of course). And yes, water can cause damage to the electrical system of ANY vehicle, if it gets into the cabin. Anyway, the main reason for my question was most ICE vehicles only deal with 12V (some 48V now), not hundreds. I'm surprised there's not a breaker tripping, killing the motors, so great news there. The other good thing about Teslas is they're HEAVY, and that's an advantage on deep water, since the heavier the vehicle is, the harder it is to lose traction. Thanks again for all the input, and glad it's helping others .