Jeremy Judkins’ escape from the waters of Hurricane Ian in “boat mode” was one of the most riveting tech stories.
What’s Tesla’s “boat mode”?
Tesla cars floating and being relatively waterproof is not an official feature (don’t try it! ), but something Elon Musk has touted for the Tesla CyberTruck.
In 2020, Elon Musk revealed that a Model S would float enough to become a steerable, moving boat for “a short period of time.” It’ll be waterproof enough to serve as a boat, so it can cross rivers, lakes, and even seas that’re not too choppy. A crucial detail we don’t know is whether the wheels touched the ground.
A user in China drove through a flooded highway in 2021, Teslarati reported. People started using that “Tesla boat mode” after all these incidents.
After hurricane Ian, Twitter user Jeremy Judkins found out his house wasn’t safe from flooding even though it was 35 feet above sea level.
As in previous instances, his Tesla Model X could move around in “boat mode” even though the route was flooded. The wheels look like they’re still on the road in the video.
One the one hand, we wouldn’t recommend anyone try this (nor would Tesla). However, it’s pretty impressive how fast the Tesla cars are in these videos.
Having a “waterproof enough” construction and not having a gas engine made it possible.
Watch the whole thing:
