Driving an electric vehicle in heavy rain?

Community Team

13-01-24

13528 views

Morning Community.

I don't know much about electric vehicles and I wondered if someone could enlighten me 🚗⚡

Now of course I know that an EV must be safe to drive in wet weather otherwise they would never be allowed, however I wondered if it affects the performance when driving in heavy rain?

The main questions that spring to mind for me are:

Would your stopping distance be the same? 🛑
Would you still get the same mileage? 🚙
Can you still drive through patches of flood water like a petrol/diesel car or would the engine cut for safety? 🌧
Does the rain affect charging the EV? ⚡

I realise these may be odd questions 😆 but for someone with no real knowledge of an electric vehicle, I'm curious to learn more and hear about others experience with them.

"Green is the prime colour of the world and that from which it's loveliness arises"-Pedro Calderon De La Barca 🌳

E.ON Next Poll - How much do you know about the Priority Service Register? - If you have a spare 2 minutes 🕑 we'd love if you complete our poll about the Priority Service Register 🤗

10 Replies

Level 92

retrotecchie

13-01-24

@DebF_EONNext

To have a stab at your questions.

The braking performance will be on a par with any vehicle on the road in order to be compliant with Road Traffic Act: Construction and Use regulations, so stopping distance would increase in heavy rain, the same as any other vehicle. No real difference. You still only have pretty much the same number of square millimetres of contact between the tyres and the road as any other vehicle.

Your mileage would be pretty much the same, unlike a petrol or diesel vehicle which would give slightly better mileage in very wet weather.

The high voltage electrical system on an EV would, I'm sure, be rather better protected than the usual 12v system on a conventional vehicle so the ability to go through large puddles or water splashes would be fine.

Rain should not affect charging with a properly designed EV charger. If you use a 'granny charger' plugged into a conventional 13A socket, as long as you are RCD or RCBO protected on the socket, you shouldn't have any problems.

Don't shoot me, I'm only the piano player. I DON'T work for or on behalf of EON.Next, but am willing to try and help if I can. Not on mains gas, mobile network or mains drainage. House heated almost entirely by baby dragons.

Community Team

DebF_EONNext

13-01-24

Thanks @retrotecchie that's helpful to know, I just can't imagine electricity and rain being a good combo so it baffles me 🤣

Level 91

meldrewreborn

13-01-24

@DebF_EONNext

An EV is though very heavy because although it has no engine the batteries completely offset that. How this affect handling in the wet I don’t know. My hybrid is also heavier than a normal fossil fuelled car because it has an engine and a battery. I think there will be differences in driving experience which the driver will adapt to. If they don’t the car would be replaced!

Current Eon Next customer, ex EDF, Zog and Symbio. Don't think dual fuel saves money and don't like smart meters. Chronologically Gifted. If I offend let me know by private message, but I’ll continue to express my opinions nonetheless.

Community Team

DebF_EONNext

13-01-24

@meldrewreborn It's interesting you mention the weight. I thought the opposite and assumed they would be a lighter drive, we were driving behind a Tesla yesterday and I said to my Husband that they look like they might take off in the wind. I don't know if it's just the design but in my mind I thought they were lighter!

Community Team

Connor_EONNext

13-01-24

@DebF_EONNext @meldrewreborn I always assumed they were lighter too - you learn something everyday. @DebF_EONNext I've seen quite a few EV's go through large puddles no problem - even with water up to the windscreen, a diesel/petrol would go straight away with water being sucked into the air intake (not that this has ever happened to me🤥) 🤣

🌳Together we can work to achieve a more sustainable Future 🌳

Level 91

meldrewreborn

13-01-24

EV’s are very heavy - so much so that multi storey car park might need extensive work to accommodate the extra weight, especially as they become more numerous on our roads.

Level 86

WizzyWigg

13-01-24

@Connor_EONNext @DebF_EONNext
If you've nothing better to do 😂 and are interested in what goes into an EV have a look at Vintage Voltage on Quest (Freeview). It looks like a new series starts from the 27th of January.
https://www.vintagevoltage.tv/

Level 92

retrotecchie

13-01-24

Originally Posted by Connor_EONNext

@DebF_EONNext @meldrewreborn I always assumed they were lighter too - you learn something everyday. @DebF_EONNext I've seen quite a few EV's go through large puddles no problem - even with water up to the windscreen, a diesel/petrol would go straight away with water being sucked into the air intake (not that this has ever happened to me🤥) 🤣

I've driven a 1965 Series 2a petrol Land Rover through five feet of water with no problem at all and have taken a Peugeot 309 diesel through a ford so deep, the water was pouring out of the ventilation grilles on the dashboard. It fried the radio but the only real casualty was the carpets which never really recovered. Trouble is with several feet of torrential flood water...quite a lot of it isn't exactly water 🤢.

Level 34

geoffers

13-01-24

@DebF_EONNext
just don't use the charging points in Wokingham 😂
Name: Screenshot_2022-07-31-09-31-42-74_965bbf4d18d205f782c6b8409c5773a4.jpg
Views: 2569
Size: 44.1 KB

Name: Screenshot_2022-07-31-09-31-42-74_965bbf4d18d205f782c6b8409c5773a4.jpg
Views: 2569
Size: 44.1 KB