Tesla Model S Can Swim

Also wouldn't the motors / batteries be very tightly sealed?
 
Risky. Electric Motors, and Batteries still need vents for cooling. The situation is different for things like well/sump pumps because the water is always there to help cool it. When you can't count on water to cool the motor you work that hard, you have to vent fresh air through it. Batteries get hot during the charge/discharge cycle.

If the guy who did this isn't an engineer at Tesla, he is taking a HUGE risk.
 
DigitalGriffin said:
Risky. Electric Motors, and Batteries still need vents for cooling. The situation is different for things like well/sump pumps because the water is always there to help cool it. When you can't count on water to cool the motor you work that hard, you have to vent fresh air through it. Batteries get hot during the charge/discharge cycle.

If the guy who did this isn't an engineer at Tesla, he is taking a HUGE risk.
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Seriously, he has a lot of faith in that car, those batteries are ridiculously dangerous. If those shorted while he was in the water we'd have a ton of new clickbait articles about how Tesla's are now killing their drivers.....
 
fuzzylogik said:
...and in a week there might be complaints about stuff not working.
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For real. I don't think there's a bag of rice big enough for that car to fit in.

This guy might be the owner of an explosive device that has an unknown ticker, lol...
 
there may be some issues with water contamination, but remember, these cars are designed to work in rainy environments.. you would be surprised where water can get to just driving down the road during even a medium rain..

I am sure all the connections external to the cab of the car are water-tight or at least water resistant.
 
M76 said:
That, and that it's heavy as lead, so it doesn't start floating in the water.
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The car is floating in water. The battery and motor weight isn't enough to overcome the buoyancy of the sealed cockpit. The underside is smooth, so minimal thrust can be provided by the wheels turning. This was confirmed by Tesla.

They come with a biochemical weapon seal on the cabin .. for some reason. There's also an Easter Egg in the suspension menu which is a nod to the James Bond Lotus that turned into a boat.
 
It's got so much torque it can power the wheels through heavy water where normal cars can't to gain the propulsion it requires. You can see the boat like water thrust in the rear view monitor. This car was floating.

Electric motors run fine submerged. The batteries are liquid cooled.

Spidey329 said:
The car is floating in water. The battery and motor weight isn't enough to overcome the buoyancy of the sealed cockpit. The underside is smooth, so minimal thrust can be provided by the wheels turning. This was confirmed by Tesla.
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Agreed. Modern cars have sealed cabins, this is why you don't attempt water crossings where the water comes up to the floor pan, and why so many of the large 4x4 vehicles become unstuck contrary to older unsealed vehicles, they turn into floating balloons with zero control, and even with a gentle flow, they float away down the river.....
 
DigitalGriffin said:
Risky. Electric Motors, and Batteries still need vents for cooling. The situation is different for things like well/sump pumps because the water is always there to help cool it. When you can't count on water to cool the motor you work that hard, you have to vent fresh air through it. Batteries get hot during the charge/discharge cycle.

If the guy who did this isn't an engineer at Tesla, he is taking a HUGE risk.
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The car is liquid cooled.

MV75 said:
It's got so much torque it can power the wheels through heavy water where normal cars can't to gain the propulsion it requires. You can see the boat like water thrust in the rear view monitor. This car was floating.
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WTF are you on about? Yeah, the Tesla has lots of torque... but so does every other car in low gears. You honestly believe normal cars, almost all of which are capable of decent acceleration and triple digit speed, don't have the stones to turn the wheels in water? Really?
 
Seems like Tesla has become the media darlings. Honest question - whose d are the slobbing on to get all this good attention?
 
eh the issue is not shorting out the battery, just that if part of the car is immersed then any electrical connections that are not specifically waterproofed may going to have issues. So it is cool that it has a "sealed cabin", but I don't know what that means. I doubt it means you can immerse the car safely without getting any water inside.
 
Epic| said:
The car is liquid cooled.
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Normally yes, but if it gets super hot the HVAC fans kick in to provide active cooling. The fans dump right under the headlights, so they would be pretty easy to block with high water.
 
GaryJohnson said:
Normally yes, but if it gets super hot the HVAC fans kick in to provide active cooling. The fans dump right under the headlights, so they would be pretty easy to block with high water.
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Do you think maybe the radiators are a bit more effective when wet/submerged?
 
5150Joker said:
Time to make a Bond film w/a Tesla S.
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I can't help but feel that it would be MUCH easier to do with an electric car than with one with an internal combustion engine.

In theory, it should be as simple as waterproofing the car and adding an impeller.
 
The vast majority of automobiles these days are sealed up extremely well. Air functions more like a liquid at higher speeds, thus stronger seals and tighter seals are needed to keep the air pressure from forcing itself into the cabin making all kinds of loud noises soccer moms and grandmas don't like to hear when they are flying down the freeway at 80mph. Its more than enough to keep low levels of water out, but once the level goes above the cabin air intake water will start to flood in at a slow rate, which is usually higher than the engine air intake unless you have some kind of snorkel system. Almost all the electrical connections have some kind of rubber seal or boot on the connector itself to protect from moisture/dust, so again low levels of water can be handled.

People ignore the exhaust... this has to leave the engine as well, or it will stall the engine and it takes very little water to do this. Tail pipes are usually located within 12inchs of the ground. Looks like all the cars stalled while the water rose up around them.

The only time water does any damage to just about anything, is if you expose it to water for long periods of time. As long as the dude doesn't park the car in the middle of the flooded area overnight, no damage should be done. Seems to me he had more motivation for getting that car out of that tunnel quickly, otherwise it would have be damaged beyond all repair. Watch his back up camera, there are cars all behind him and its likely he cant just back up... only forward to go!
 
NeoNemesis said:
I can't help but feel that it would be MUCH easier to do with an electric car than with one with an internal combustion engine.

In theory, it should be as simple as waterproofing the car and adding an impeller.
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If you do that, add an oxygen tank or two. Mustn't forget the needs of the humans inside.
 
what about the breaks? it doesn't take much - after all this isn't nice and clean water the guy is driving through. a decent downpour on their street and water high enough to rush around the car can do pretty significant damage in a fairly short amount of time if there's enough crap floating around.
 
You know, rain water that falls and splashes on wheels isn't any different than puddle water.
All this talk of dirty water makes me think that some people treat it like a vat of hydrochloric acid.

The batteries are sealed. The electrical connections are made to handle weather and are sealed as well.

The electric motors don't need air to run like a regular engine. There's no gas to burn. Of course it should work.
 
Hypergreatthing said:
You know, rain water that falls and splashes on wheels isn't any different than puddle water.
All this talk of dirty water makes me think that some people treat it like a vat of hydrochloric acid.

The batteries are sealed. The electrical connections are made to handle weather and are sealed as well.

The electric motors don't need air to run like a regular engine. There's no gas to burn. Of course it should work.
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Yes the batteries are sealed in a tunnel pack. But how sealed? This I do not know. But every other car out there that uses batteries (Toyota, Honda, Ford, GM) have a vent to cool the batteries when they overheat. I also know that tesla battery packs are meant to be easily changed out from the bottom of the chassis.

And not every connection is marine grade in a car. Marine grade connectors are @#@# expensive.
 
except this the guy is driving through water that is very likely jam packed with trash, sticks/mud/rocks/leaves and who knows what else that washed down into that tunnel - some seriously dirty stuff. floating on a normal lake would be "cleaner." Not too concerned about the batteries and such - more about all the other stuff that is most certainly not enclosed. There's a reason people get hurt in a flood. it's not necessarily the water, it's all the crap that the water picked up (and then gets stuck/caught in all sorts of odd places. like in the breaks).
 
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