The Chinese Off-Roader With A Waterproof Engine Also Has Propellers And Sonar For Emergency Water Travel

Devoted Jalopnik readers may already know about the Geely Galaxy Cruiser 700 (also known as the Battleship 700), and they may already know it as the Chinese SUV that uses a waterproof engine. Admittedly, that distinction is a little futile unless the rest of this car's mechanicals are also waterproof, but lo and behold, it looks like they are. The Geely, it would appear, also has propellers and sonar that'll let it travel across water.

According to InsideEVs, the 700 has two little propellers on the back, located and sized to look like exhaust tips. Each produces 8.5 kW (or 11.5 horsepower) and lets the SUV travel in water at speeds of up to about 4.4 mph or 7 km/h. Two sonar sensors on the front bumper are located where you'd typically expect to see parking sensors and, naturally, they keep the car from hitting underwater obstacles. 

Granted, we wouldn't call it an amphibious car per se since the "swimming" effect is temporary, slow, and meant as a contingency plan more than an actual feature you'd show off like, say, the GMC Hummer EV's CrabWalk. Ergo, the "swimming" only lasts around 40 minutes. The Geely can also float for about 2 hours if required.

The mild on-water performance hasn't stopped Geely from showing it off in a big way, and in the Instagram video below from Chinese car expert Wheelsboy, you can see the SUV driving into a lake, slowly floating around for a bit, seemingly with the entire front grille submerged, and simply driving back out.

Remarkably, the interior stayed completely dry after the water submersion, and given this car uses that IPX8-rated Horse B20 turbo-four that can run temporarily submerged in up to 3.6 feet of water, it presumably drove off after the demonstration without any issues. The Battleship 700 is a plug-in hybrid off-roader (off-lander?), so three electric motors help that engine out to produce 1,113 total horsepower in the top trim.

Notably, the Battleship 700 isn't the first Chinese SUV able to go into boat mode in a pinch, as BYD's flagship Yangwang U8 has an "emergency float mode" that uses the front wheels as makeshift rudders, letting it float along for half an hour. That one, however, can only go about 2 mph on water. Any bets on how long before we see a battle for zero-to-60 speed supremacy on water?