Texas Driver Arrested After Submerging Tesla Cybertruck to Test Water Capabilities
Austin, Wednesday, 20 May 2026.
A Texas man faces boating charges after intentionally driving his Tesla Cybertruck into a lake to test its water capabilities, highlighting the legal risks of testing extreme vehicle features.
Testing the Limits of “Wade Mode”
On Monday evening, Jimmy Jack McDaniel intentionally drove his Tesla (TSLA) Cybertruck into Grapevine Lake, Texas, in an attempt to test the vehicle’s “Wade Mode” feature [2][GPT]. The incident took place at the Katie’s Woods Park boat ramp, located approximately 40 kilometers north of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex [1][2]. According to witnesses, the vehicle was off-roading near the shoreline before getting dangerously close to a drop-off in the lake bed [4]. When the Cybertruck became disabled and began taking on water, McDaniel and his passenger were forced to abandon the vehicle [2][3].
Legal Repercussions and Safety Warnings
Following the extraction, law enforcement officials took McDaniel into custody. As of Tuesday, he remained in jail facing multiple charges, including operating a vehicle in a closed section of a park or lake, lacking a valid boat registration, and violating water safety equipment regulations [1][2][3]. The Grapevine Police Department issued a public statement clarifying that while a vehicle might be physically engineered to enter shallow freshwater, doing so can trigger serious legal and safety concerns under Texas law [1][2][3].
The Mechanics and Warranties of Electric Wading
Tesla’s official owner’s manual states that Wade Mode allows the Cybertruck to navigate through bodies of water such as rivers or creeks, with a maximum wade depth of 815 millimeters measured from the bottom of the tire [1][2][3]. However, the manual places the onus entirely on the driver to accurately gauge water depth and conditions before entering [2][3]. It explicitly warns that muddy or soft underwater surfaces can cause the heavy vehicle to sink, rapidly increasing the water level against the chassis [2].