Video keeps showing up on [TikTok ](http://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8vYsWq1/) of a Tesla driving partially submerged.
Why isn’t this a story of hairdryer meets bathtub and that dude in the back isn’t toast?
In: Engineering
It’s totally possible to make weatherproof electronics. It just requires that you plan to make something weatherproof. We don’t make hairdryers weatherproof because they’re intended for indoor dry controlled usage, and we protect people in bathtubs by mandating protection on the electrical circuits in the bathroom so if something shorts into the water, the circuit trips before harm comes to a person.
For one, batteries use direct current and your wall socket uses alternating current. Those behave very differently.
Second, the toaster to bathtub ratio is much larger than the Tesla to Creek ratio.
Third, the Tesla is grounded by being in a pool on the dirt. So even if there was escaping electricity, it would go directly into the ground rather than go up through there person in the car.
Everyone’s favourite unibrowed electrical engineer has a video explaining how the “electrocution in water” thing is mainly a myth, and plays in a bowl of water with live wires to test his theories. It’s very entertaining, and quite enlightening.
Remember that YouTube exists so we don’t have to try these things at home for ourselves!
Other commenters have mentioned that water is not actually a good conductor, but the other piece of the puzzle is that the high voltage systems in electric vehicles are completely sealed. Even if that Tesla were driving through a pool of Very Conductive Liquid, there is no way for that liquid to make contact with the high voltage system.
Internal combustion engines require air from the atmosphere to operate, and they also require air from the atmosphere to be cooled effectively. Because of this requirement for air, there is no point in sealing the engine since there will always be at least one opening for air. This is why driving an ICE vehicle through water can be catastrophic.
All high voltage components in an electrical vehicle are at least IPx7 water resistance rated because electrocution is indeed a risk with 400V and some newer 800V EV systems.
I don’t see any hairdryer being IP rated.
Fun side fact: if you live in the UK and have a fairly modern “fuse box” you can sit in the bath and throw a live toaster in, the power will drop within 30mS – for reference it takes you around 50mS to blink. Electroboom tested this with his body, because of course he did.
I believe in America they’re called gfci.
It’s very very hard to die from electricity now in the UK whilst working with standard kit… It still happens obviously, but you’ve got to work hard for it.
Is it an electric car or a battery powered one?
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