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orbital-decay a day ago

Due to it being electric or due to the specific design? EVs are generally much easier to design for water crossings. I actually drove an electric motorcycle across a river fully submerged, which it wasn't even designed for (had to do a thorough check afterwards but it was completely fine). This is not even remotely possible with the bike I normally ride (Africa Twin).

hansvm a day ago | parent [-]

Due to it being electric. That's really interesting. What prevents shorts?

orbital-decay a day ago | parent | next [-]

Proper sealing, mostly. The bike I was riding is a custom-built enduro, the electric part is fully sealed up to the handlebars but the river turned out to be a bit deeper, as it often happens. Electric drivetrains are much simpler. They aren't running as hot as ICE, don't need outside air, have less vibration and fewer moving parts... you can make it a proper submarine if you desire. In fact, certain 2WD electric mopeds are rated for underwater riding.

It's possible to use a normal motorcycle fully submerged as well [1], but designing for that is way harder due to the exposed engine, you need a ton of things and not just a snorkel.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEPzyZTDDTI

edaemon a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This Rivian still worked perfectly fine after being submerged in and carried away by a flood: https://insideevs.com/news/735934/rivian-r1t-flood-hurrican-...

mattnewton 17 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

it doesn't need air intakes and exhaust like an ICE, so you can just seal everything up.