The Eye of the Storm

[tommy542]

Woke up this morning at 5:30AM quite literally in the eye of Storm Ian. We live in a 12 story concrete condo so the storm has not really presented any problems, but it has caused a discussion of our model Y and it's relationship with water.

Obviously the high voltage section of the car is waterproof. If not we would have problems every time we went through a puddle. But how about the rest of the car? On the model Y there is NO backup for the electric door latches. If we wind up in the water somewhere are the doors going to open, the windows work? Some of the unerpasses in central Florida have up to five feet of water in them. The State Patrol is going nuts rescuing people that did not realize there was that much water there. Am I going to be able to get out of the car or am I just trapped? Has this ever been tested?

 

[ScottNY]

There IS an emergency manual release latch inside the car forward of the window switches.

 

[240vPlug]

Tesla has emergency door releases as stated above. With that said it’s best not to venture out in severe weather conditions. It’s best to prepare ahead to wait out the storm at home or if that is not feasible to travel to a safer location ahead of time.

 

[fiehlsport]

I googled "Model Y emergency door release" and the first result was a PDF from Tesla showing you how to manually open the front doors in case of 12v system failure.

"To open the Model Y front doors from the inside without 12V power, lift the mechanical release handle located near the window switches."

 

[Icehedgehog88]

Although I wouldn’t recommend this but if you search the internet there are pics and vid’s of various Teslas driving through 3-4 feet of water. Biggest problem has been that if you drive too fast you can rip the back bumper off the car.

 

[Prodock]

I’m in eastern NC and drove to and from work in pretty much Ian related downpours today and was quite impressed with how my MYP handled partially flooded roads and hard rain. I do have Michellens on.

 

[tommy542]

Ohmigosh this is just too much.

 

[getakey]

so the reports of EV fires after the storm were all BS?

 

[Hunt3r]

so the reports of EV fires after the storm were all BS?

100% Didn't see one single local report of such a thing from coast to coast. 10K members in our various Tesla groups here, same.

 

[Corndart]

so the reports of EV fires after the storm were all BS?

Not necessarily.

EV fire *after* the storm != EV fire *because of* the storm

 

[getakey]

Not necessarily.

EV fire *after* the storm != EV fire *because of* the storm

what?

 

[getakey]

another article, but I have yet to see confirmation of more than 1 fire. Has anyone else?

Electric-vehicle fires have burned down homes after Hurricane Ian saltwater damage. Florida officials want answers

“Florida homes which survived Hurricane Ian, have now been lost to fires caused by flooded EVs.”

www.yahoo.com

 

[jsight]

another article, but I have yet to see confirmation of more than 1 fire. Has anyone else?

Electric-vehicle fires have burned down homes after Hurricane Ian saltwater damage. Florida officials want answers

“Florida homes which survived Hurricane Ian, have now been lost to fires caused by flooded EVs.”

www.yahoo.com

I've seen at least two. The first one was that white Model X that gets posted everywhere.

The second one looked more like a Model 3, but it was hard to tell since it was completely burned. The person posting about it claimed that ~5 more of them burned at the same multifamily dwelling, but there were no others pictures. The photo itself was odd, tbh.

Outside of that, I haven't heard specifics on any incidents. I hope someone does a detailed report of what actually happened, instead of just insinuation.

 

[getakey]

the vid with the white model x did not look like a lithium fire
was the Model 3?

 

[jsight]

the vid with the white model x did not look like a lithium fire
was the Model 3?

It looks like it might have been the pack? The video shows them accessing the cut loop from the front, but it also shows them cooling the pack from the bottom:

That video says there were 4 others just from one department. This was the other one that had photos:

https://imgur.com/a/Zay10QU

Having said that, 12V battery fires aren't really uncommon after flooding either. Its hard to say if the stats will really be worse. Mostly the solution seems to be to get the flooded ones away from structures.

 

[Corndart]

what?

There may have been an EV fire after the storm, but that doesn't mean the storm (and flooding) caused the fire.

 

[getakey]

There may have been an EV fire after the storm, but that doesn't mean the storm (and flooding) caused the fire.

I'm looking for evidence of fires caused by flooding. More than just the white Tesla video. The FL State CFO said "tons". I don't see that is anywhere near the truth

 

[Corndart]

I'm looking for evidence of fires caused by flooding. More than just the white Tesla video. The FL State CFO said "tons". I don't see that is anywhere near the truth

Why? Who cares what one State of Florida <title here> said?

 

[getakey]

Why? Who cares what one State of Florida <title here> said?

member of another forum that is anti EV and they believe the tons of fires quote