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Water and electricity don’t mix? Watch this Volvo XC40 EV drive out after being submerged

Shaun · Aug 2, 2021 10:59 AM

Water and electricity don’t mix? Watch this Volvo XC40 EV drive out after being submerged 01

Water conducts electricity, which means you can become the path to the ground if you touch water that's in contact with electricity, hence the common saying – water and electricity don’t mix.

But here’s a fun fact for you, electric vehicles (EV) can wade through a much deeper water level than combustion engine cars, and they don’t even require high ground clearance. A Nissan Leaf, for example, has a wading depth of 700 mm, which is the average depth for most pick-up trucks.

Water and electricity don’t mix? Watch this Volvo XC40 EV drive out after being submerged 02

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Sounds like witchcraft? Well, the battery packs and all the high voltage components are sealed off, which is the case for most EVs. So the traditional risks of driving combustion engine cars through water doesn’t apply to EVs.

Water and electricity don’t mix? Watch this Volvo XC40 EV drive out after being submerged 01

Most EV manufacturers don’t recommend this for obvious liability reasons. Even though the drive components are sealed, there is still a risk of heavy flood water getting into the components because nothing is ever truly waterproof.

Also read: 900 mm wading depth! Top 5 best cars for driving through floods in Malaysia

That being said, Volvo has been confident enough about its safety in regards to sealing the electric components and for the purpose of showmanship, they’ve submerged a Volvo XC40 Recharge underwater that is 1.7m in depth for an unspecified amount of time.

Water and electricity don’t mix? Watch this Volvo XC40 EV drive out after being submerged 02

From the video, fishes can be seen in the water tank, presumably to demonstrate that there’s no electricity leakage. Also, the windows appear to be wound down, which means the interior components are exposed to water as well.

Water and electricity don’t mix? Watch this Volvo XC40 EV drive out after being submerged 03

After the unspecified amount of time had passed, the XC40 Recharge was remotely driven out of the massive aquarium and appeared to be fully functional.

Water and electricity don’t mix? Watch this Volvo XC40 EV drive out after being submerged 04

Impressed? While we certainly wouldn’t encourage trying this at home even if you have an equally massive aquarium, it’s reassuring to know that EVs can handle more than a bit of splash.

Also read: Volvo gives the XC40 a zap of Recharge

Shaun

Senior Writer

The quest for automotive knowledge began as soon as the earliest memories. Various sources information, even questionable ones, have been explored including video games, television, magazines, or even internet forums. Still stuck in that rabbit hole.

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