A car has been found floating on the beach, in Santa Barbara, California, and it appears to be a white Model 3 Tesla. This unfortunate event began when the owner took the car to the beach, which is illegal, according to Futurism.
The car is seen just this Monday, bobbing with the waves off the coastline of Carpinteria, California. John Palminteri, a TV and Radio reporter, tweeted a photo of the half-sunken vehicle back on November 1st.
The local sheriff and firefighters have confirmed that there was no one trapped inside. According to reports, the driver is unharmed. He drove the car into the beach but was caught in the oncoming tide. A spokesperson from the local sheriff's office advised the owner to get his car out of the ocean.
A Tesla was found floating in the ocean off Carpinteria this morning about 8 a.m. Firefighters searched the car along with the surrounding area, but no one was found. The Santa Barbara Co. Sheriff's Dept. is investigating. (photos: Carpinteria fire, Robin Karlsson, Bill Ehrgott) pic.twitter.com/X1CAmcdL4V
— John Palminteri (@JohnPalminteri) October 31, 2022
Will It Still Work?
For some of its functions, yes. Entirely, maybe but probably not. Rich Rebuilds attempted to do this on his YouTube Channel, after buying several flood-damaged Teslas.
In his video, you'll see how he had a hard time attempting to get the electric car to work again, considering that it had been in the water for ten days. He dismantled the battery pack to take a closer look at the damage. After much work, Rich Rebuilds tried to jumpstart the vehicle.
He ended up with a car that still had an LTE service, and can still connect to the Internet. Some of its lights were still working too, according to Tesmanian. Not everything was fixed, and the car even advised the YouTuber to take it in for service.
Mechanical issues aren't the only problems here. With flood damage, a lot can go wrong. Other than the low-voltage accessory items, there's also the issue of mold growth as mentioned by CNET.
Since the car that was recently found is in the ocean, there are also different factors to look into like how salt water will affect the car.
Read Also: Tesla Cybertruck Release Date, Exterior, Specs and More: Production Schedule Confirmed!
But Elon Musk Says It Can
He did say that the car floats well in water. But, he also said in his tweet that it is not recommended, and it can only be done in short periods of time.
The Tesla CEO claimed that the driver can navigate through the waters, by thrusting through wheel rotation. Musk explained that the Tesla Model S drive unit and batteries were sealed. If that's the case with the Model 3, which it likely is, it would explain why some functions are still working.
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
Tesla owners should not confuse their cars with the Tesla Cybertruck unveiled in 2019, which Musk claimed was technically an amphibious vehicle.
He also stated that it will be waterproof enough to serve as a boat, but only briefly. It can cross rivers and lakes, and even seas if they weren't rough. Musk expressed that an electric propeller should be mounted on the tow hitch, for it to be able to go faster than a few knots.
