A Tesla Model 3 owner in Mono City, California did his best Michael Scott impression after he let his Tesla Model 3 plow directly into floodwaters while using the automaker’s Full Self Driving Beta system. YouTube channel Wham Baam Teslacam was able to obtain some footage of the very strange event.
The driver, who is only identified as Ryan, apparently told the channel that he was driving down the highway outside Mono City at about 60 mph when FSD was activated. That’s when the driver saw a sign warning of road flooding ahead, but neither the car nor Ryan reacted to the message. He told the outlet that there are tons of flood signs in the area with usually no water present. Despite the fact that pools of standing water can clearly be seen on either side of the roadway and ahead of the speeding Tesla, nothing is ever done to slow the car down before it hits the water.
Once the car hit the water, it does the best it can (given the circumstances) to continue as though nothing is wrong, but as you may have guessed, something is very wrong, and it’s just getting worse. Once the Model 3 hits a patch of dry pavement, the grip change gets the little sedan all confused. It jerks violently left, and Ryan was unable to regain control before it slipped into a very deep pool of standing water. From there, the car was left stuck in the shoulder below with about half of the car under water.
As you may have imagined, most cars — especially EVs — do not like being under water for an extended period of time. However, Wham Baam’s video doesn’t really go into detail about the extent of the damage after the car was towed out of the water looking a bit murkier than it used to.
As for what’s next, Ryan tells the channel that he plans to sue Tesla and the city, but I’m not really sure how well that’ll go over. After all, folks who use FSD Beta are supposed to be ready to take control of the vehicle at a moment’s notice. That means that when the car didn’t recognize the clear hazard ahead, Ryan should have taken control of the Model 3.