Texas man sinks Cybertruck to test Elon Musk's boat mode claims

The illusion surrounding Tesla's flagship brutalist pickup is officially underwater. With non-Musk Cybertruck registrations plunging 51% year-over-year in late 2025, the electric automaker is now dealing with the legal and public relations fallout of a 70-year-old Texas man intentionally driving his vehicle into a lake to test CEO Elon Musk’s amphibious promises. It is a striking metaphor for a product line plagued by safety recalls, dwindling consumer interest, and an alarming over-reliance on internal company purchases to prop up delivery numbers.

On the evening of May 18, 2026, Jimmy Jack McDaniel activated his Cybertruck's highly publicized 'Wade Mode' and drove it straight into the waters of Grapevine Lake. According to the Grapevine Police Department, the stunt ended disastrously when the heavy electric vehicle rapidly became disabled and began taking on water.

“The driver drove into the lake to use the 'Wade Mode' feature when the vehicle became disabled,” Grapevine Police stated on X. The situation escalated quickly as the vehicle began sinking into the mud. “The passengers abandoned the vehicle and the driver was arrested,” the department confirmed.

McDaniel was booked on multiple charges, including operating a vehicle in a closed section of a park and having no valid boat registration. “We wouldn't encourage willingly driving your vehicle into the water,” said Katharina Gamboa of the Grapevine Police Department, noting the obvious safety and legal concerns. Grapevine officials emphasized that public waterways are strictly regulated to protect families and local wildlife. Driving a battery-laden vehicle into a recreational area poses severe environmental hazards.

The incident highlights a dangerous disconnect between Tesla's marketing rhetoric and the actual physical limitations of its hardware. Musk has repeatedly hyped the truck's capabilities, notoriously tweeting in 2022 that the Cybertruck would be “waterproof enough to serve briefly as a boat.” In December 2023, he doubled down, claiming Tesla would offer a modification package enabling the vehicle to traverse at least 100 meters of water.

Yet, the actual engineering tells a vastly different story. Tesla’s official owner's manual warns that Wade Mode is strictly meant for shallow water up to a maximum depth of 32 inches, and it explicitly warns owners that water damage is not covered under the vehicle's warranty.

For Tesla investors, this flooded pickup is merely the latest spectacle in a disastrous stretch for the company's halo vehicle. The Cybertruck's sales figures are currently being heavily subsidized by Musk's own corporate ecosystem. In the fourth quarter of 2025, SpaceX purchased 1,279 Cybertrucks, accounting for roughly 18% of all US registrations. Without those massive internal buy-ups moving inventory off the books, consumer demand is rapidly evaporating.

Furthermore, the truck has faced a humiliating parade of at least four major NHTSA safety campaigns since its launch. Just weeks before the Grapevine Lake fiasco, Tesla was forced to recall 173 units of its base model because the brake rotor stud holes were prone to cracking, a critical defect that could cause the wheels to literally detach while driving on public roads.

The Grapevine Lake incident is more than just a bizarre local news headline; it is a glaring symptom of the dissonance between Musk's grand promises and grim mechanical reality. When an automaker’s chief executive sells a science-fiction fantasy that the underlying product simply cannot deliver, everyday consumers end up with flooded batteries, voided warranties, and overnight stays in the county jail. As Wall Street continues to scrutinize Tesla's shifting fundamentals and dwindling consumer enthusiasm, a sinking Cybertruck in Texas serves as the perfect mascot for a hype machine that has completely run out of dry land.