Elon Musk has confirmed that the Tesla Model S floats well enough to turn into a boat "for short periods of time," with "thrust via wheel rotation."

Musk's comments were in reaction to a video shared over the weekend (embedded above), which appears to show a man driving a Tesla Model S through a flooded tunnel in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The Model S seems to be unfazed by the metre-deep water: it simply starts floating, then powers past some flooded internal combustion engine (ICE) cars, the water gracefully lapping against the car's bonnet.

While it might seem a little incongruous for an electric car to become a boat, it makes some sense if you think about it. Most conventional ICE cars have an exhaust pipe that's low to the ground and quickly becomes flooded if you drive through deep water. Battery-powered vehicles, on the other hand, don't have an exhaust pipe. (I wonder if fuel-cell vehicles, which do have an exhaust, can be used as a boat.)

Updated: As mentioned in the comments below, another issue with ICEs is water—which is incompressible—getting into the engine via the air intake.

Obviously we don't know exactly how well-sealed other parts of the Model S are, but it's safe to assume that the battery pack—which contains lithium, which bursts into flame on contact with air or water—is fairly impenetrable. The fact that the Model S has a "bioweapon defence mode" also suggests that the cockpit at least is very well-sealed.

Tesla may have known about the Model S's boating capabilities for a couple of years. Back in early 2015, a firmware Easter egg was discovered in the suspension settings screen that allowed you to turn the picture of a Model S into James Bond's submersible Lotus Esprit.

Before you head down to your nearest slipway for a little dip, though, be aware that Tesla "definitely doesn't recommend" using your Model S as a boat. I wonder if it negates your warranty...