What happens to electric cars when driven through flood waters, say up to middle of the doors?
I know my pickup can be driven through water at least 36 inches deep as long as the engine is running. Air intake is higher and if the engine is running no water comes into the exhaust close enough to cause problems. It is a diesel pickup - deeper water would OK except that then it gets into "wash away" depth. A bit of current and the trucks weight won't keep contact with the ground.

If the EV's get in water will the batteries short?

Now with farm equipment. Floods to 6 feet are no problem. High rig tractor for crop spraying gives us a lot of clearance. Much better for going to rescue areas.

But, wondering about EV's as I'm watching news and seeing flooding with rescue vehicles having problems.

That's a good question. I do know that "wash away" depth is shallower than you think. I just looked it up online, and it says that one foot of water can wash away most cars. A truck could be up to two feet, but there's no guarantee. I think locally, I've seen less than one foot do the job.

I wouldn't bet on your truck fording 3 feet of water. The breathers for your differentials transfer case and transmission aren't likely to be that high.

dogbloggernli Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I wouldn't bet on your truck fording 3 feet of
> water. The breathers for your differentials
> transfer case and transmission aren't likely to be
> that high.

Am going from personal experience from a few years of using the big pickup for spring flood service/rescues in our area.

It has taller than stock tires - taller by quite a bit. Farm truck and street legal. Carrying sandbags to outlying farmhouses is where we hit the water depth. Have thought of routing exhaust up like stacks but haven't done it.

If we weren't loades with sandbags or supplies or people coming back we would not be doing so deep.

As it is, the high lift crop sprayers do a good job in those conditions. Can tow floating supply barges to help those on 'islands' and to emergency crew locations.

The high clearance crop spray rigs like this: https://www.producer.com/crops/a-really-high-high-clearance-sprayer/

are really good. Enough weight to keep them from washing away. power to handle nasty conditions and mud. A really good option that is available in our farming area as many of the farms have high clearance sprayers of various types.

Gasoline cars do not do well in floods either.

Gasoline fires can be put out. EV fires can't, which is why the Felicity Ace (transatlantic shipper) was a $4B loss. Imagine a few percent of the Mormon church's net worth going up in smoke. Okay, I am enjoying that thought way too much.

$432 million loss in Felicity Ace fire.

The question was are they waterproof. I expect they are. I know my condo had underground transformers and we had a water main break which put all the transformers underwater for three days, but there was no power interruption or electrocutions, though we were very nervous. It was all 40 year old wiring.

Rocky Mtn Power did replace all the transformers free of charge and put the new ones above ground.

My point: electrical equipment can be made quite water resistant.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2023 12:13AM by Brother Of Jerry.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1118889_what-happens-to-electric-cars-that-have-been-flooded

"When we reached out to Nissan for comment, the company's electric-car spokesman, Jeff Wandell wrote told us that the high-voltage components such as the battery, traction motor, or inverter are all waterproof."

https://thedriven.io/2018/12/04/is-a-battery-electric-vehicle-safe-in-a-flood/

"Summing up: all EVs are designed to meet international standards on water ingress and as such should be safe in a flooded situation. They also have a variety of safety systems designed to minimise the likelihood of an electrical short-circuit or potential for electrical shock in the event of a crash or where a shock-hazard is detected."

Good Question;
Also there's the question about re-sale of flood- damaged vehicles which damage might be hidden/disguised; some of us have known of resale horror stories...

Flood damaged cars are generally totaled by insurance companies since trouble is likely to show up years later.

You give insurance companies too much credit.

When you are told your vehicle is a “total loss,” after they pay you less than market value, they then sell your “totaled” vehicle for whatever they can get and it’s usually NOT to a metals recycler, but to wholesalers and junk yards, because they pay more, and that’s what America is all about.

And plenty of cars only have liability coverage, and owners are just as greedy as insurance companies, so plenty of water-damaged vehicles find their way into our ‘buyer beware’ marketplace.

elderolddog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You give insurance companies too much credit.
>
> When you are told your vehicle is a “total
> loss,” after they pay you less than market
> value, they then sell your “totaled” vehicle
> for whatever they can get and it’s usually NOT
> to a metals recycler, but to wholesalers and junk
> yards, because they pay more, and that’s what
> America is all about.
>
> And plenty of cars only have liability coverage,
> and owners are just as greedy as insurance
> companies, so plenty of water-damaged vehicles
> find their way into our ‘buyer beware’
> marketplace.

Not only that, but on a recent edition of NPR's "Planet Money," it was reported that some cars that were found to be dangerous in the U.S. were shipped overseas with the difference between what the owners got from the insurance companies and what the cars sold for in those overseas places (Saudia Arabia was one) being considered profit to the insurance companies and their shareholders.

Lots of cars that were totaled after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans showed up in the north for sale later on.

With the winter snow storms in the mountains in Utah and California, and the upcoming spring floods, there should be plenty of data to judge the reliance of EVs and gas powered vehicles when they get soaked.