After Elon Musk Promised Cybertrucks Could Function as Boats, One Fell Into a Harbor for a Perfect Test
Cybertrucks can truly do it all. The bulky electric pickups can produce fire at a moment’s notice, excel at collecting trash, and have even been known to shed body panels for Bond-style getaways.
Are they also amphibious? In an off-the-cuff post during the runup to the vehicle’s launch, Tesla CEO Elon Musk promised that “Cybertrucks will be waterproof enough to serve briefly as a boat, so it can cross rivers, lakes and even seas that aren’t too choppy.”
Now we’ve got a perfect test for Musk’s bombastic claims. During a botched jet ski launch, one Ventura, California man accidentally threw his luxury truck into reverse, rolling down a ramp and into the harbor’s cold waters.
Did the vehicle thrive as a watercraft, as Musk would have buyers believe? No: the driver made it out okay, but his prized Cybertruck ended up waterlogged.
In fact, the recovery effort drew the Ventura Fire Department, Harbor Patrol, Coast Guard, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife, along with a towboat company and a Tesla engineer.
Since the Cybertruck has never been tested by the National Highway Safety Administration, the risks that come with the truck’s proprietary battery are pretty much unknown. Fearing a battery fire, responders took their sweet time discussing how to pull the EV out without risking further damage to the harbor.
“We purposely did not rush into the response to allow time to research all potential hazards and ensure contingency plans were in place,” Captain Carson Shevitz, a spokesperson for the responding tugboat firm told the Ventura County Star.
After marinating in the ocean for at least two hours, the now-bricked Cybertruck was hauled out of the water without incident.
Though Tesla vehicles around the world are going up in flames at an alarming rate, this is probably the first incident of a Cybertruck falling into a body of water. As such, the incident seems to confirm what everyone suspected all along: these things aren’t floating.
Meanwhile, Tesla’s Chinese rival EV manufacturer, BYD, has actually demonstrated a water-safe vehicle, the U8 luxury SUV. Touted as an emergency feature to survive floods, the U8 can stay afloat for about 30 minutes, and move at a slow but steady 1.8mph.
It might not be much, but at least it’ll save your ego if you get confused between forward and backward at the harbor.
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