Water Depth

[Cwhite]

Hey all, Boy have we had some rain in Portland lately. On the way home yesterday one part of the road had about 12 inches of water, my X5 made it fine but it made me think about our Spark EV. I do not see anything in the manual about what depth of water you can traverse. Did not see anything with Google. Has anyone ever seen anything about this?

 

[Nashco]

As listed in the owner's manual:

http://www.chevrolet.com/content/dam/Chevrolet/northamerica/usa/nscwebsite/en/Home/Ownership/Manuals%20and%20Videos/02_pdf/2015-spark-ev-owners-manual.pdf

Always drive slower in these types of driving conditions and avoid driving through large puddles and deep‐standing or flowing water.

...


Flowing or rushing water creates strong forces. Driving through flowing water could cause the vehicle to be carried away. If this happens, you and other vehicle occupants could drown. Do not ignore police warnings and be very cautious about trying to drive through flowing water.

You're never going to have the company tell you what depth of water is acceptable, as any movement in any direction (by the water or by the car) can impact how high the water truly goes. That's why there's such a vague recommendation to avoid this sort of thing. It's a significant risk to drive into deep water because if a component is warm (such as a large battery pack) and you drive into a large body of cold water, the cooling effect of the component creates a vacuum inside the container, which makes it extremely difficult to keep water out of all electrical and mechanical connection points. If you can avoid driving in deep water, absolutely do so! If you absolutely have to go into standing water, drive slowly and avoid stopping completely so you spend the minimum amount of time in water but don't cause a huge tidal wave pushing water into nooks and crannies with even more force. The same applies with a gas car, as driving quickly will create a rush of water into the air intake and ignition components and can cause it to stall.

Bryce

 

[emv]

Wasn't if fun last night with 217 closed at Allen. :roll:

Short of a Land Rover with snorkel, it's a rare vehicle made to ford high water. I wouldn't try it. Even if the battery and motor are OK, if you get water in the connections you can expect interesting issues down the line as the connectors slowly corrode, making poor contact.

And that saw about "turn around. don't drown". There's some truth to that too. This morning I passed several cars that had gone off (washed?) into ditches last night. Just a perfect way to ruin an evening.

Anybody up for a reprise of the 1960's Amphicar as an electric?

 

[nozferatu]

Wasn't if fun last night with 217 closed at Allen. :roll:

Short of a Land Rover with snorkel, it's a rare vehicle made to ford high water. I wouldn't try it. Even if the battery and motor are OK, if you get water in the connections you can expect interesting issues down the line as the connectors slowly corrode, making poor contact.

And that saw about "turn around. don't drown". There's some truth to that too. This morning I passed several cars that had gone off (washed?) into ditches last night. Just a perfect way to ruin an evening.

Anybody up for a reprise of the 1960's Amphicar as an electric?

Send us some rain down here in Los Angeles...I am SICK and tired of the dry weather here...we need rain...I want some green.

 

[NorthernSpark]

Yeah, I don't really treat the Spark EV different than any other vehicle (granted, the car is pretty low to begin with). When it doubt, turn back and find another route.

 

[agdodgerfan]

I recommend caution when driving through water even though it is sealed I drive through about 6 inches of water and started to encounter issues. Range dropped dramatically. Had to stop at fast charger to make it to work. Normally only use 50% to get to work. Fortunately back to normal the next day.

 

[lalacurf121]

Thanks for the info
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