If the Hurricane Doesn’t Get You, Your Electric Vehicle May!
The owners of Electric vehicles that live in the path of a hurricane should move their car at least 50 feet (15 metres) away from the house police in Florida and other US States have warned.
So not only do you have to contend with the possibility that your house could be flooded now you have to consider whether you want to risk your house getting burnt down. Oh, and then there is the inevitable power outage after the storm and your inability to charge your car assuming it isn’t a smouldering wreck in the ashes of your garage that is.
Statistics are scant on how many vehicles have spontaneously combusted after they got a seawater soaking. About all I could find out was a letter from the NHTSA on a X (Twitter) feed
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The risk is considered high enough for State Governors like Ron DeSantis of Florida to issue a specific warning prior to the arrival of Hurrican Helene this week. Tesla themselves advised that if your vehicle is given an impromptu bath then you should move it manually to a safe distance from your house until the time you can have it inspected.
A couple of years ago when Hurricane Ian wrought merry hell along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico it is believed that as many as 5000 EVs were given a good soaking, of these 36 caught fires. Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) cars will also be screwed if flooded but at least they will not burn your house down.
This is the moment that one luckless home owner lost the lot:
