News hardware Tesla: Yes, Elon Musk’s electric cars can be used as boats
The electric cars rolling out of Tesla’s factories seem to have it all. The proof, with this discovery made recently by a resident of Florida, at his own risk: he used a Tesla as a boat.
Tesla has been working on its cybertrucka futuristic van that Elon Musk never misses the opportunity to praise. Among the characteristics of this vehicle, the possibility of using it as a “boat” to cross an arm of water, a river or even a lake. We know, however, the sometimes incredible promises of the boss of Tesla and the ideal is to wait for demonstrations to have a relevant visibility on the waterproof capacities of this vehicle.
Waiting, it is possible to appreciate the capacity of the Tesla Model X when it comes to crossing heavily flooded areasthanks to the experiment led by Jeremy Judkins, a Florida resident who had to deal with Hurricane Ian.
The Tesla Model X can act as a boat
In a series of videos posted on YouTube, this resident of North Port, Florida, attempted a drive through town in his Tesla Model X. “Drove from West Chapel to North Port driving my solar-charged Tesla”, he explains. As it travels, we see the car sink deeper and deeper into the water.
The driver points out, however, that throughout its crossing, the wheels of the car continued to touch the road. We cannot therefore speak of a total transformation into a boat, but according to Jeremy Judkins, his Tesla gave him ” save the life “. He explains that the water was starting to rise in the area and Hurricane Ian was not yet done with the damage. “I saw my neighbor being evacuated by the National Guard. I was informed that there was a 1h30 wait to take the highway”, he explains. In another video, we understand that he had no more electricity and that it was his Powerwall battery, charged with solar energy, which allowed him to hit the road.
A nice advertisement for Tesla
In 2016, already, Elon Musk indicated on Twitter that the Tesla Model S was able to circulate on a very flooded road. “It’s definitely not something we recommend, but the Model S floats quite well and can transform into a boat for a short distance”he explained.
We *def* don’t recommended this, but Model S floats well enough to turn it into a boat for short periods of time. Thrust via wheel rotation.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 19, 2016
In this very particular context, Jeremy Judkins’ demonstration proves that the Tesla Model X can do it too, at least for a short distance. Enough to do a nice free publicity for Tesla and its electric vehicles, which can go where thermal vehicles would probably have more difficulty. However, no one wants to be threatened by a devastating hurricane to try the experience.