As the COVID-19 pandemic slows in some areas, we have yet another pandemic claiming lives, and it's one we've known about for a much longer time: Climate change. Extremely high temps, wildfires, and heavy rains are ravaging the earth, and it doesn't seem to be letting up. Floods in China have been especially terrible of late, and videos of Tesla's cars acting as boats are starting to be shared around social media.
Please, don't go test your Tesla as a boat. No matter which vehicle you drive, it wasn't designed to float, and it's not going to act as a boat very successfully. However, unlike most gas cars, some electric vehicles fare pretty well in deep water. You've probably already seen the video below.
Not only does the Tesla Model 3 appear to be the only car moving, but it's actually propelling itself through the water like a boat with its acceleration. According to Ray4Tesla, this Tesla may have saved the lives of its occupants. It was coming out of a completely flooded tunnel that other cars were still trapped inside.
Ray has been sharing a lot of videos out of China. He also recently posted the following tweet showing a Tesla driving on a flooded highway in China. Interestingly, the video footage is from inside the car.
We'll say once again, no current EV is intended to be used as a boat. Eventually, these Tesla vehicles will likely stop running, their interiors will likely begin to take on water, and, if the flood is deep enough, they'll eventually sink.
With that said, gas cars can become almost immediately inoperable if they proceed through deep water. It doesn't take long for the car to take water in where it should not go, and the cars will stall. Once they've stopped running, chances are, the engine is hydrolocked and won't restart. While some off-road SUVs are built to ford deep water, it's not common.
We'll leave you with one more Tesla boat video that really got our attention:
Perhaps one day, there will be electric cars that are also intended to be used as boats. Until then, avoid flood conditions where possible. However, if you own an EV, and especially a Tesla, you may have at least some peace of mind that you'll be in a better position than most others when the waters begin to rise.
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Source: Teslarati