this post was submitted on 20 May 2026
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Well, I would say the test results were conclusive, if nothing else.

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[–] Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works 191 points 1 month ago (5 children)

According to Fox 4, the driver is being held in Grapevine Jail as of Tuesday afternoon, with violations including:

Having no valid boat registration.

That is both hilarious and stupid. You would have to imagine the definition of a boat would be something that floats, which the Cybertruck clearly isn't in this photo. It's also less water than the truck is rated in the owner's manual to be able to handle.

[–] KayLeadfoot@fedia.io 97 points 1 month ago (2 children)

This got me thinking, you're right, how can it be a boat if it can't float?

Turns out, everything is bigger in Texas, including the legal definition of what constitutes a boat.

Is it motorized, above 14 feet in length, and afloat, docked, or stored on Texas waters? Then it's a boat that needs to be registered, fam.

[–] Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works 26 points 1 month ago (3 children)

I've read that, and I don't think any reasonable person would consider a vehicle being driven on a lake bed to be a vessel.

[–] adespoton@lemmy.ca 57 points 1 month ago (9 children)

No, but its owner was storing it in a lake, it’s over 14’ long, and has a (non-functional) motor.

[–] Dultas@lemmy.world 29 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Have an accident where you drive off a bridge in Texas, get charged with not having a boat registration.

[–] anomnom@sh.itjust.works 19 points 1 month ago (3 children)

I wonder if they charged the guy who crashed his Veyron in Galveston Bay? I mean with something other than insurance fraud.

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[–] MyTurtleSwimsUpsideDown@fedia.io 15 points 1 month ago (4 children)

A submersible is a vessel.

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[–] dermanus@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 month ago

Maybe, but a reasonable person also wouldn't drive a car into a lake.

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[–] onnekas@sopuli.xyz 13 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Well, I think it's not wrong to apply the same rules to any kind of vessel you take into the water. Therefore, it's good to simply assume that every vessel in the water is some kind of boat so people don't say 'well akshually this is not a boat' and do bullshit like this cybertruck driver.

[–] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 month ago

You act as though there aren't already definitions for these things. You don't treat a child's pool float the same as an ocean liner.

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[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 1 month ago

Change it to "no valid submarine registration"

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[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 72 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (4 children)

Wade Mode is a feature in the Tesla Cybertruck that allows it to drive through shallow water by raising the suspension and pressurizing the battery to protect it from water and debris. It is designed for use in bodies of water up to approximately 32 inches deep at slow speeds of 1-3 mph.

Should have called it creek mode.

[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 22 points 1 month ago (6 children)

32 inches

That's 81cm. Up to! That means, you need to stay below that. Since no natural body of water has completely even ground this effectively means if deeper than knee-deep you risk your battery exploding.

Something I'm sure any normal truck could handle without an extra mode.

I mean EVs are better of course, but why make a truck that is too low and probably has the battery at the bottom like normal Teslas do... Why, oh why, Elon. Choke on your stupid business decisions and unsold bad quality products.

[–] Damage@feddit.it 19 points 1 month ago (18 children)

Normal trucks can wade water as high as their air intake, which usually is above one of the front wheels, inside the fender. You can go a bit above that for short distances if you keep a good momentum and create a wave in front of you, but that's risky.

Of course modern trucks, having turned from work to luxury vehicles, may have issues.

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[–] phant@lemmy.world 17 points 1 month ago

Blocked storm water drain puddle mode?

[–] kkj@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Wading is specifically for shallow water. I think it's aptly named.

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[–] Darkaga@lemmy.world 64 points 1 month ago (1 children)

N = 1 Seems pretty inconclusive to me. Let’s throw in a couple more and see what happens.

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

I can’t decide… should we call this the “Boston Tea Party 2: electric Boogaloo” or “the Boston Tesla Party”?

[–] j4yc33@piefed.social 59 points 1 month ago (2 children)

If I had a nickel every time a Cybertruck driver re-enacted the end of The Perfect Storm while casting themselves as George Clooney, I would have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice.

Comedy gold.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I'd say weird except it was advertised as a hybrid boat (and would have been advertised as a rocket or plane too if he'd thought of it) so like, doing what you are told it can do is not stop weird.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 month ago

doing what you are told it can do is not [too] weird.

It is when it sounds unlikely and the ones making the claim are notorious for constant embellishments and flat out falsehoods

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[–] KayLeadfoot@fedia.io 7 points 1 month ago

😂 Some of the time, the jokes are hard to shoehorn into the articles. This time? The jokes practically wrote themselves

[–] Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 35 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Look, it didn't work this time, but don't stop encouraging Cybertruck drivers to use their vehicles in water!

They are fully submersible submarines, after all. I hear one guy got all the way to the Titanic in one!

[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 18 points 1 month ago (1 children)

If they can take a bullet, I'm pretty sure they can handle a little water. This was user error. Elon wouldn't lie and sell us junk.

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[–] Microtonal_Banana@lemmy.zip 20 points 4 weeks ago

"Hold on. I just put you on speaker. Can you please explain what happened again for my coworkers? Its been a stressful day and I think they could use a laugh." - car insurance lady

[–] frank@sopuli.xyz 18 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I don't understand what "wade mode" does?

If there's an air intake, it's just for cooling, not combustion. So like what is the point of "moving it to a snorkel position" or whatever?

[–] sploder@lemmy.world 26 points 1 month ago (1 children)

There’s a photo of what it does. Absolutely nothing good, ruins the car and takes you to jail 😂

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 points 1 month ago

ruins the car and takes you to jail

In that case, Cybertrucks should all have it enabled by default 😁

[–] winkerjadams@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 1 month ago (2 children)

IIRC it pressurizes the battery compartment so that water can't get in and probably some other crap too

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[–] 843563115848@lemmy.zip 18 points 1 month ago (1 children)

They should all experience this fate, fucking pieces of shit.

[–] daychilde@lemmy.world 16 points 1 month ago (1 children)

fucking pieces of shit.

And their trucks, too!

Well, "trucks". heh

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

In point of fact… they’re not fucking. It’s why they’re so angry all the time.

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[–] Kaligalis@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Obviously, wading ain't swimming. The mode is probably useful in some edge cases. Driving straight into a lake just isn't one of them.

[–] Fedizen@lemmy.world 15 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

1700s oxen towed wagons: can be floated down river if sealed properly. Oxen sometimes poop.

2023 cybertrucks designed by modern engineers. Dies instantly in water. No poop.

[–] thesohoriots@lemmy.world 12 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Bro out here playing the fool’s Oregon Trail.

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[–] Lon3star@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago (2 children)
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[–] EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 13 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

May have gotten better results with a Ford. It's right there in the name.

/obligatory: don't actually try to ford a river with a Ford

[–] kungen@feddit.nu 13 points 4 weeks ago

Fjord Focus

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[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 12 points 4 weeks ago

I love how the picture of that trashcan in the water has this black and white effect applied like it's 1933 and somebody accidentally dropped a garbage can off the docks into the harbour

[–] daychilde@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago

I grew up in DFW. I'm absolutely unsurprised that's where this happened.

[–] Ariselas@piefed.ca 10 points 1 month ago

Thankfully the power windows didn’t lock up, and the people inside got out safely.
That could have been the best Darwin Award of the month, maybe year.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

What a I really want to happen, is for the day he is released from jail, for the warden, or whomever, to ask in a very condesending tone:

"Now....what did you learn?"

And if he can't answer, he stays in jail.

[–] Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

To be fair, this was less than the wading depth advertised in the owner's manual.

The owner had reason to believe the vehicle could do what he was trying to do.

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Not even close, really. The top edge of the bumper/front edge of the hood is roughly 4 feet off the ground, for reference.

You’ll notice in the photos the front driver side corner is *close to under water. Wade mode is specified for 3”. Also the truck might be floating a bit.

*edit, I ran the video. It’s not quite under. Still deeper than the 32” depth. That said they probably smashed the under carriage romping over the rocks like it was a EOHV racing truck or something. (Dumbasses believed the incel marketing.)

[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 8 points 1 month ago

I'll say it before, I'll say it again: it's their drivers as much as the trucks themselves.

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