Can the 'Ziplock bag for cars' keep floodwaters out?
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- According to the Insurance Council of Texas, nearly 300,000 vehicles were affected during Hurricane Harvey. But a relatively new product on the market promises to protect your car the next time it floods.
Stephen Parven's Toyota Avalon Hybrid technically flooded during Harvey, but lived to drive another day. Nearly five feet of water filled his garage in Meyerland. But he used something called E.V.P., otherwise known as Extreme Vehicle Protection to prevent his car from flood damage.
"Took the bag off, not a drop inside. My goodness, what a relief," Parven explained.
The developers of E.V.P. appeared on ABC's "Shark Tank" last year and their product was funded by Daymond John. Many have described it as a Ziploc bag for your vehicle.
After Harvey, Supratik Moulik saw the need to bring it here and worked with the company to represent the product in Houston.
"It's also water resistant, so when the water rises the car will be fine," Moulik said.
To demonstrate, we used a BMW 3-Series luxury coupe.
"You unroll the bag and make sure the zipper side is facing out. Have one or two people hold open the bag, and then drive the car in," Moulik explained.
Once the vehicle is inside, the driver exits and zips up the bag. Next, take the supplied rope and tie the corners toward the top of the car, with the zipper elevated as well.
"We recommend when you put it in your garage, clean off the area. Make sure there's no nails or sharp rocks. Nothing that's going to puncture the bag," Moulik said.
Once our test pool was inflated, it was filled with water. When it reached two feet, the BMW was floating. We let the car float in the pool for about an hour.
"Now we drain out the water, similar to how flood water would recede, and then deflate the pool, take the car out and check and make sure it's dry," Moulik told us.
After we opened the bag, the car was dry. Not a drop of water was on it and started right away.
Depending on the vehicle, Moulik says the E.V.P. comes in different sizes, with the price range between $300 and $450, which is less than most insurance policy deductibles.
You can learn more about the E.V.P. at www.TexasFloodBag.com.
