2023-08-02 15:42:14
• A team drove an all-electric 1978 Land Cruiser 8 km… underwater.
The 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser was unveiled last night and already we feel a certain frenzy around the model. The enthusiasm for this vehicle is not new, as proven by this recent feat achieved by an Australian team of around thirty people.
They got together to drive an electric 1978 Land Cruiser a distance of about five miles… underwater.
Yes, you read correctly.
The model, nicknamed Mudcrab, crossed Darwin Bay 30 meters deep on the ocean floor.
A crazy project. And dangerous! Indeed, since the beginning of the year, a hundred crocodiles have been caught in the bay, not to mention that sharks are always on the lookout.
Photo : YouTube/7News Australia
The 1978 Toyota Land Cruiser before its trip underwater
And how can the vehicle operate underwater? First, because it is not equipped with a combustion engine, but with all-electric mechanics, it does not need to “breathe” underwater. Then, we also took care to seal the said electric motor, a question of giving ourselves all the chances in the world.
Another important modification was necessary to allow the vehicle to circulate on the bottom of the water. Each tire was reused with 330 pounds of water.
Incredibly, this was not the first attempt of its kind. In 1983, we had tried the trick with a conventional model, equipped with a sealed combustion engine, but the attempt had failed about halfway. Some of the gaskets protecting the engine had failed.
This time it wasn’t a problem. On the downside, the Land Cruiser occasionally got bogged down in the muddy ocean floor. It then had to be freed using buoys chained to it.
In all, the trip took about 12 hours, two of which were spent lifting the vehicle above an underwater gas line. Eventually, the deep water pressure was so great that the team had to change drivers every 15 minutes.
On a ferry, the trip takes only a few minutes. Why do things simply, when you can complicate them a bit?
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