I have seen this scenario a thousand times growing up near a lake where people usually launch boats. Almost every year someone gets too far in the water and gets their truck stranded.

I saw this video online of a truck launching a boat on a northwest beach and I thought here we go again. Right away it doesn't seem like a safe situation. There are people all over the place and a woman is running after the truck trying to catch a towel as he pulls away. The driver of the truck circles around and drives FRONT FIRST into the lake. That is when I realized the truck he was driving was a new electric Rivian R1T. Electric trucks do not have to live by the same rules as regular gas powered trucks but I was still unsure how it would do. Does he get stuck? Watch the video below.

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Canva-Getty
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In the video, the truck circles around and then starts backing up into the lake. It keeps going, and going, and going. After backing way out in the lake the truck stops for a minute and seems stuck. Eventually I expect the driver of the truck to start screaming for help because he can't get back but that never happens.

Instead, the boat is launched just fine and the truck drives out of the lake easily. I am sure his cab filled up with some water and soaked some things inside but he did not get stuck. After watching the video, I think the Rivian truck was able to pull that stunt off was because of two different important reasons.

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Getty Images
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(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

REASONS WHY:

First, an electric truck does not have to worry about water getting into the engine and killing it. Electric trucks motors and wiring are completely water proof and able to work under water. While a normal internal combustion engine that uses gas needs air to work, needing a snorkel on the engine to work under water or it will "drown". If you have ever seen a regular truck drive through deep water, it had a snorkel so the engine can breath.

Second, the battery packs for the truck are very heavy. That extra weight allows the truck to keep traction on the ground even though it was submerged pretty deep in water. A normal truck will start floating, giving the wheels not enough traction to move. It doesn't take very deep water to keep a regular car or truck to start floating and get stuck in water. I have seen people get stuck in less then a foot of water before in a car during flooding.

This is all good information to know in case I ever decide to buy an electric truck and give people on the beach a heart attack launching my boat.

 

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