Have you ever been under a flood warning? The authorities will commonly tell you not to drive through water on the road, as the danger of getting swept away or a car stalling is much higher. But electric vehicle giant Tesla (TSLA) actually managed to render these warnings moot, if only for a while. A Tesla, likely a Model Y, was recently spotted cruising through California floodwater without incident, and that gave investors reason to cheer. It also helped send Tesla shares up over 4% in Monday afternoon’s trading.
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While of course Tesla does not recommend driving a car through floodwater—Tesla vehicles “…are not designed to be boats,” one report noted—Tesla has also noted that its cars are more sealed than conventional gas-powered cars are. Battery packs are encased in waterproof casings. A lack of air intake means no path to an engine. Teslas can even float for short periods and use “wheel thrust” to get through water.
But recent video from California showed a Tesla going right through water, on a street “…so deeply flooded that water reached above the hood and lapped at the side mirrors.” The report also noted that the car “…appeared almost fully submerged at moments,” yet carried on like a trouper right through the water. This is not the first such report, either, a point that might give Tesla some killer marketing material going forward.
An Unrecommended Cybertruck Change
Meanwhile, a Tesla owner made a fairly significant change to a Cybertruck, one that addresses a point of concern that many drivers had with it. Many pickups come equipped with bench seating, a configuration that offers versatility as an alternate cargo bed, among other things. But the Cybertruck used a five-seat configuration. So, this owner took matters into his or her own hands and added a snugly fit third seat between the driver and passenger seat.
The result is surprisingly sharp, though technically illegal, as the new passenger seat does not come with its own airbag. Thus, the new modification is not recommended for actual use. It remains to be seen how many people want the bench seating enough to modify their Cybertrucks accordingly at home despite the violation of certain regulations.
Is Tesla a Buy, Hold or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on TSLA stock based on 13 Buys, 10 Holds, and eight Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 6.57% rally in its share price over the past year, the average TSLA price target of $395.89 per share implies 13.05% downside risk.
