AZE.US
Heavy rain in Baku has again exposed a growing problem for electric vehicle owners, with flooded streets leaving a number of cars stranded and raising fresh concerns about how some models handle severe weather.
Videos shared on social media during the recent downpours showed electric cars stuck motionless in deep water, drawing attention to the risks faced by EVs in flooded urban conditions. Specialists say such incidents can end not just with a temporary shutdown, but with expensive technical damage that may only become visible later.
Electric vehicle technician Ilgar Isgenderov said driving through flooded roads can be especially damaging for EVs. Unlike conventional gasoline-powered cars, he said, electric vehicles can suffer serious failures when water reaches sensitive electronic systems. The longer a car remains in motion through floodwater, the greater the risk of damage.
According to him, water intrusion into circuit boards and electrical contacts can cause faults that are difficult – and sometimes impossible – to repair. He said service requests increased sharply after the latest wave of heavy rain in the capital.
Isgenderov added that Chinese-made vehicles are often more vulnerable because of weaker insulation in some models. In electric cars, the battery, inverter and high-voltage wiring are critical components, and if water reaches those systems, the vehicle can switch into emergency mode. Repairs in such cases can be both technically complex and costly.
At the same time, automotive expert Elchin Abbasov said the issue should not be reduced to the type of vehicle alone. He noted that in properly functioning EVs and hybrids, the high-voltage system is isolated from the body of the car, and protective relays are designed to cut the power immediately if even a minor current leak or short circuit is detected.
That means fears of people being electrocuted by an EV in floodwater are largely unfounded from a technical standpoint, Abbasov said.
In his view, the biggest problems tend to appear in vehicles that were previously involved in accidents or had sustained even minor damage. In dry weather, these flaws may go unnoticed. But once the car enters deep water, moisture can penetrate through damaged insulation, triggering the protection system and shutting the vehicle down in the middle of a flooded road.
Abbasov said drivers should avoid flooded areas whenever possible. If entering standing water is unavoidable, he said, the water level should remain below the point where it can enter through the doors. He also urged drivers to move slowly, warning that higher speed creates waves that raise the water level and increase the danger for nearby vehicles as well.
For hybrid owners, he advised keeping the battery sufficiently charged during rainy weather and using EV mode where possible, rather than running the internal combustion engine through deep water.
He said taxi vehicles are among the most frequent cases seen by service centers because of their heavy daily use. If a car passed carefully through water no deeper than the lower door area and had no prior faults, an immediate inspection may not be necessary. But if it passed through deeper water, a technical check is strongly recommended because water may enter through ventilation points, gearbox breathers or battery valves, compromising the vehicle’s sealing.
Electric vehicle blogger Ilkin Mustafayev also said some models clearly showed weak points during the recent flooding. He noted that batteries are supposed to meet international protection standards against water, dust and impact, but in practice some electric and hybrid models appeared not to meet those expectations.
He said the problem was especially noticeable in models produced for the Chinese domestic market. At the same time, he stressed that manufacturers are not the only factor, and that driver behavior also plays a major role.
Mustafayev added that fully electric cars do not “choke” on water in the same way conventional combustion-engine vehicles do. But plug-in hybrids can create a false sense of confidence. Some drivers treat them like pure EVs and enter deep water while the gasoline engine is still running, which can result in serious engine damage.
The recent downpours in the capital of Azerbaijan underscored a simple point: owning an electric vehicle does not make driving through floodwater safe. If a car has prior damage or weak insulation, heavy rain can quickly turn into a costly repair problem – and Chinese-made models, according to some specialists, appear to face higher risks than others.
AZE.US