Electric - Hybrid Vehicles

ka2020p

I would like some advice, I live in a village where all the access roads now flood on a regular basis. I have a diesel Honda CRV which is brilliant, but I'm conscious of the environmental damage, I cannot get a straight answer from car sales on the suitability of Electric or Hybrid cars in this situation. Does anyone have any experience of the vehicle options in a flooded areas, don't say don't go through the floods - I could be stranded away from home for several days based on the last few years.

ComicGeek

There's a big variation in definition of flooding. I drove my hybrid SUV through some minor flooding last week but still had sufficient clearance under the car. Others were driving cars with lower clearance through that I definitely wouldn't have done personally, and someone from my son's school wrecked their Porsche driving through...

Regardless of the car, there's always a flood level that the car can't cope with.

ka2020p

I always use discretion when driving through the flood, as I say my current SUV is great, what I would like is input from someone who can advise in the effect of driving through water in a electric SUV vehicle, would it stop the engine? If I had a hybrid SUV and I switched to diesel to drive through the water how would that affect the electric power. 

NottinghamKnight

You're not going to get any assurances on driving through flood water in any non specialist vehicle I wouldn't have thought. 

AdrianC

NottinghamKnight said:

You're not going to get any assurances on driving through flood water in any non specialist vehicle I wouldn't have thought. 

Agreed. Several manufacturers publish wading depths for SUV-style vehicles, though.

Any high-voltage systems - hybrid or BEV - are going to have to be properly water-ingress sealed for at least foreseeable risks. Theoretically, they should be better able to cope with flooding than an ICE, because they don't need an intake for combustion air, and that's what normally causes the shenanigans... But you're still likely to have all sorts of fun with things like hot wheel bearings drawing water in as they cool rapidly, or breathers, or...

EssexExile

I know Volvo hybrid SUVs have a shallower wading depth than non-hybrids. I would assume it's buried deep in the specifications somewhere.

forgotmyname

The enviromental damage to produce a new car probably outweighs the damage of buying the vehicle

fit for the purpose.  Seems you need an old Diesel LandRover.

knightstyle

The batteries are placed low down to lower the centre of gravity so probably that will define how deep the water you can safely enter will be.

MX5huggy

If your CRV meets all your needs and you are not doing over say 15000 miles a year then you probably should not change. It has a particularly deep wading depth of 700mm. 

The Jaguar i Pace has a very good depth of 500mm. 

BOWFER

Electric vehicles can go through much deeper water than ICE cars.
The damage to ICE engines comes from water into the air intake, doesn't apply to EVs.
Check out youtube videos of the Nissan leaf going through water, it's incredible.