The new Tesla Cybertruck can pressurise the battery to allow it to wade through over 70cm of water, but Elon Musk promises even more.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk insists the new Cybertruck will be able to act as a Cyberboat.
“We are going to offer a mod package that enables Cybertruck to traverse at least 100m of water as a boat,” he said on his social media platform X.
“Mostly just need to upgrade cabin door seals.”
His remarks follow the recent reveal of the Cybertruck’s Wade Mode.
According to Tesla, this “raises ride height and pressurises battery when driving through water”. The company warns water levels shouldn’t exceed the top of the bumper, and the mode will deactivate automatically after 30 minutes.
It’ll also take up to 10 minutes to activate.
Lars Moravy, Tesla’s vice president of vehicle engineering, explained the Cybertruck’s aquatic abilities on an episode Jay Leno’s Garage.
“You can go through about a little more than two and a half feet [762mm] of water without any water getting into the cabin,” Mr Moravy said of Wade Mode, which he said is referred to internally as the Scuba Pack.
He said the system uses the air suspension to force air into the pack to keep water out of the battery.
Cybertruck will be waterproof enough to serve briefly as a boat, so it can cross rivers, lakes & even seas that aren’t too choppy
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 29, 2022“If you did want to make it a boat, the vehicle almost floats maybe you have to add a little bit of extra buoyancy just to keep it up,” added Mr Moravy.
“If you’re creative and you want, you could figure out how to put an outboard motor plugged into your outlet [in the tub], turn it on from your screen and go boating.”
Mr Musk claimed last September the Cybertruck would be capable of traversing more than just deep puddles and streams.
“Cybertruck will be waterproof enough to serve briefly as a boat, so it can cross rivers, lakes & even seas that aren’t too choppy,” he said on X.
The goal, he said, was to make the Cybertruck capable of crossing the channel from the SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica to South Padre Island.
That would involve crossing the Brazos Santiago Pass which, according to the US Army Corps of Engineers, has a depth of 12.8m.
While videos on social media have shown even Model 3s deftly tackling flooded streets – emphasis being on ‘streets’ – Mr Musk’s claim the Cybertruck can traverse great bodies of water seems to be inviting some poor choices from future owners.
Some Tesla owners have already proven foolish, abusing the Autopilot Level 2 autonomous driving feature by sitting in the back seat or playing games instead of remaining attentive behind the steering wheel.
This has helped lead to a recall of over two million Teslas in the US to make the system alert drivers more obviously.
Mr Musk has made various claims about Tesla and its products over the years that have yet to come to fruition.
For example, he claimed in 2019 that the following year would see one million Tesla robotaxis on the road, while his company revealed the Roadster in 2017 which has yet to reach production.
After multiple delays, Tesla finally delivered the first examples of the Cybertruck to customers a few weeks ago.
Orders are open in North America, but while the Cybertruck still appears on the Tesla Australia website there’s only a ‘Get Updates’ button. It’s unclear if it’ll be made available here.
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