# Driving an EV in the rain



## dragonsgate (May 19, 2012)

stealthE said:


> Looking at so many pictures of your guys' conversions, the thing that strikes me the most is the open bottom under the hood area. Does anyone worry about rain getting into places it shouldn't? Like the motor - it has an open end. Are you just not driving in the rain?


A lot of EV conversions have a band around the brush end of the DC motors with a blower for cooling. This helps keep dirt and debris out. I am not up on AC motors but the ones I have seen are usually closed housings. My car is a DC powered with the band and barely has a four inch clearance underneath. I don’t like driving in the rain because of the muddy mess but do drive in wet weather and have had no issues. The main thing is look out for deep water. I live in the country and there is one place that I have seen a section of the road under a foot of running water four times in the thirty years I have lived here. I wouldn’t even try it in my electric even if it was six inches under water.


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## mizlplix (May 1, 2011)

I drive in the rain 3-4 times per year. No problems.

An AC motor is more water resistant than a DC motor simply due to the lack of brushes. I have seen AC pump motors operate under water in a sump.
But I would never drive my car through standing water.

Miz


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## piotrsko (Dec 9, 2007)

I eve go fhrough the quarter carwash places and clean out the engine bay, rinse off the motor casing.


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## onegreenev (May 18, 2012)

No problem in the Leaf


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## dragonsgate (May 19, 2012)

onegreenev said:


> No problem in the Leaf


I have seen that demo before and it is impressive enough. Their are some ICE’s that would conk out in a foot of water. Even if you have a rig that will make it through a large puddle it is still advisable not to go through it. I have had water up past the running boards on my FJ40 and it is freaky, especially if it is running water. I have seen cars go off the road with just a few inches flowing across and unseen potholes can be a problem. Back to the leaf. Even though it can make it through a perfect test body of water I think that after time and several crossings some problems with corrosion would eventually arise.


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## Yabert (Feb 7, 2010)

stealthE said:


> Does anyone worry about rain getting into places it shouldn't?


Against rain / wet dirty snow splash from tires a belly pan can be useful.
Also, a band with air filter around the open end of the motor is a must.

Driving on 12'' deep of water is a total other story...


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

I have a very perfunctory and partial belly pan- just the front section, and more as a deflector of rocks to protect the bottom of my batteries than to keep out water.

I don't know about 12", but have driven through 3" of water without ill effects.

The AC50/51 motors are open drip proof. They draw in from the encoder end and discharge hot air near the drive end. You want to deflect water away from those inlet ports, but without restricting air flow into the ports.


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## Matej (Dec 4, 2015)

Free water cooling.


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## arklan (Dec 10, 2012)

mine was completely open to the weather underneath before i put a belly pan for aero, even when it was bucketing down with rain it never missed a beat even through puddles


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## miscrms (Sep 25, 2013)

Note that the Leaf is much better sealed up than your average conversion. All major components (battery box, motor, inverter, junction box, etc) are sealed, as are all the HV connectors between components.

I wouldn't worry too much about rain, but I wouldn't want to drive a conversion through water splashing into the motor or over exposed DC connections. It shouldn't zap you, but sounds like a recipe for burning something out. Hopefully just your fuses if you've sized them correctly.


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