Wade depth

[Manbys]

Does anyone know what the official wade depth is for the MG5. Or what’s the deepest anyone has tried? I live near a few fords so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[biffo]

I remember seeing one fo the Planet Auto videos (might have been their Lake District 2 part video) where they took an MG5 through a ford and mentioned something about EVs being fine in general - but no mention of maximum depth.

 

[Kithmo]

I think, like most manufacturers, they recommend not going in anything over the depth of the tyre sidewall. But EVs are much more capable of going through deeper water as there's no low down air intake to suck water in, like in an ICE car. I would probably go through anything up to the sills.

 

[5teep]

Very valid question given the weather we've been having. Roads across Scotland with water coming up to the door sills etc.

 

[Justin H]

Very valid question given the weather we've been having. Roads across Scotland with water coming up to the door sills etc.

I agree. Unfortunately as we keep seeing videos of city drivers going through flooded roads, and floating away, I don't think ev manufacturers would put their neck on the block regarding this. MG struggled to put a load rating on the roof rails so I doubt they would answer this.

 

[Adee]

Personaly I wouldn't go into something sill-deep as there's a great big battery under the car and it makes me nervous

 

[FCat53]

There is a video showing a 700mm test on a Nissan Leaf.

Nissan Test

 

[Chrispydoc]

Blooming heck!! I wouldn't fancy doing that in my MG!!!

 

[FCat53]

Blooming heck!! I wouldn't fancy doing that in my MG!!!

Not a recommendation, just a demonstration of the possible. The starting graphic shows 2 depths 300mm and 700mm , don't know the significance, but may be everyday versus emergency capability?

 

[JohnB]

Blooming heck!! I wouldn't fancy doing that in my MG!!!

Neither would I, but at least I'd know the underside was clean afterwards.

 

[Dt99idr]

Neither would I, but at least I'd know the underside was clean afterwards.

Provided the flood hasn't dragged up the sewers....

 

[Kithmo]

Provided the flood hasn't dragged up the sewers....

Nothing worse than having a floater stuck on top of your battery.

 

[m4rmite]

Nothing worse than having a floater stuck on top of your battery.

The heated battery when charging should make it interesting

 

[n8sail]

Given where I live, I'd be keen to know this as well. At my old house here, at least twice I was stuck at home because the water outside the neighborhood was deeper than even the 80cm wade depth of my 4x4 Ford Ranger! I now live outside Pattaya which has ridiculous flooding problems and it's only a matter of time until I'm stuck looking at passing through a flooded road in my MG EP. Wet side of the Southwest Monsoon is starting soon.

There is a company here in Thailand making a cool, VERY small EV that deals very well with this problem. I have seen a couple of them driving around here.

 

[Adee]

Given where I live, I'd be keen to know this as well. At my old house here, at least twice I was stuck at home because the water outside the neighborhood was deeper than even the 80cm wade depth of my 4x4 Ford Ranger! I now live outside Pattaya which has ridiculous flooding problems and it's only a matter of time until I'm stuck looking at passing through a flooded road in my MG EP. Wet side of the Southwest Monsoon is starting soon.

There is a company here in Thailand making a cool, VERY small EV that deals very well with this problem. I have seen a couple of them driving around here.

That test appears to result in it being it more or less amphibious

 

[Kithmo]

That test appears to result in it being it more or less amphibious

Not good for crossing flowing water.

 

[speculatrix]

The low heavy battery should help prevent the car floating, but I wouldn't want to test how waterproof the things under the bonnet are, so I'd not go deeper than the sills.

 

[Paulie68]

I read somewhere MG says 400mm is OK. Here's an Indian test of a Chinese spec car.



Personally I'd try to avoid any wading, if nothing else, you're going to fill the underbody structure with filthy water and silt, leaving the car horribly rusty underneath after a few years.

 

[rogerco]

Looks like it might be actually designed to float, with the drive wheels acting as paddle wheels in the water. Which implies the underside is sealed.

 

[n8sail]

Looks like it might be actually designed to float, with the drive wheels acting as paddle wheels in the water. Which implies the underside is sealed.

Indeed that's the case, it was designed to float. Given that the doors themselves are below the waterline, I'd be nervous of the weather stripping leaking after some years of wear and tear.

As Kithmo mentions, not intended for flowing water, or any sort of wave action. FOMM even says on its website that it's not 'amphibious' although, technically, it does float and have 'propulsion'.

It appears to achieve its very poor propulsion from the shape of the spokes on the wheels as you mention. A very good engineer friend of mine was a part of a university competition many years ago involving building an off-road vehicle that was able to float and propel itself, and they used the same concept, although theirs was FAR superior due to a much more extreme wheel design, one certainly not practical for a road car.