The City of Dubai, which saw flash floods this week due to a monumental amount of rain, gave rise to viral video clips of a white-colored Porsche Taycan successfully crossing the floodwaters plaguing a stretch of road.
@zubair_khan44 PART 2 its a boat in the water 😂😂😂 #dubai🇦🇪 #alkhailmall #dubailifestyle🇦🇪 #alqouz #alkhailheights #alqouz4 ♬ original sound - Zubair Khan 🔥
The said clip, which was first posted by Tiktok user zubair khan44 now has 2.1 million views and it showed the electric-powered Porsche sports car nearly losing traction due to floating. A second clip from the same user with 1.9 million views showed the front of the car being completely covered by water. But yes, the Taycan successfully crossed the seemingly long and deep section of the flooded road.
While this appeared spectacular and is a testament to the Taycan’s build quality and Porsche’s engineering chops, many are saying that what the driver did is dangerous.
The first video showed the Taycan floating for a bit
For starters, the Taycan is not an off-road vehicle and was not designed to deal with fording any body of water. Sure, the car’s sealing showed off its capabilities as the car managed the crossing and drove away unscathed, but this Porsche model only has up to 128mm of ground clearance, and so has almost no wading capabilities at all.
On that note, he was likewise lucky to have managed to avoid a short circuit, as far as the video shows. Then again, the flood-crossing Taycan might likewise see long-term effects of its driver’s stunt such as moisture in the taillights and further damage to the car’s many exterior sensors.
Murky waters like the one shown in the videos may also hide obstacles like debris, or worse yet, a pothole or a deeper section of road. Predicting where these are on a flooded road is quite difficult, so in this regard, we can consider the Taycan driver lucky.
EV or not, what the driver did was dangerous
So regardless of whether one uses an internal combustion vehicle or an EV, we generally discourage drivers from risking it all by traveling through flooded areas that are just too deep.
Remember, if the floodwater is halfway up the car’s tires, it would be safer to go for an alternate route instead.
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