My car keeps shocking me.

Are you talking about static electricity shocks? I used to get those all the time for a while on my old pickup. It was to the point that I was in the habit of opening the door and then touching it with the back of my hand to get it over with, it just became second nature.

But what I really want to know is did you try your second key/fob to see if it works fine?

 

The Prius has been good to me in that respect. I rarely get shocked by it. Now my GMC and Chevy trucks used to shock the heck out of me! I always figured it was due to the high wattage stereo systems though.

 

This is shocking news!! :faint:

 

It's not the SKS. It's your cloths. For example, some sweaters can generate quite a lot. Anything with "spandex" in them will also give you a jolt (my "Sportif" hiking pants for example, but underwear not so much as it's covered -usually- ). Any "slippery" nylon or polyester garmets can also generate enough to be troublesome.

All this is just a nuisance, but be careful. If you succeed in sparking to a piece of electronics (a button for example), it -can- damage the electronics!

Especially watch out when fueling the car. The spark -can- ignite fuel vapours! So touch the car body from the outside -before- you reach for the pump, and don't get in and out of the car while fueling.

 

It may be that you have low rolling resistance tires and that being low in carbon, they allow static charge to build up on the vehicle. You could try dangling a chain or cable from the frame to ground, like ambulances do, and see if that changes anything. You could also develop the habit of touching the car with a key or something each time you come up to it, so the spark jumps at the key.

 

I have the same Prius model and options, and no static electricity problems at all.

Yes, check for rubbing or sliding clothing (and shoes) generating static.
It is probably YOU shocking the Prius (and other grounded items),
and not the car (and other items) shocking you!

 

I've seen her racy posts in the Online Dating thread and I'm inclined to agree!

 

Me too, I have had many pleasant dreams as a result

Seriously, every new vehicle I have driven since 1998 or so, appear to zap me to some degree. Much worse in winter with dry air, sweaters, etc

Amazing true winter fact: always "ground" yourself before giving a smooch. Some folks like a spark at their lips, but not me

 

Coincidentally, I started doing research on this recently because I was tired of my car zapping me. My job is to figure out how to protect microchips from static, so i decided to figure out how to protect myself...

The studies that I read (apparently, people write papers about this) make me think that it's us zapping the car, not the car zapping us. When you slide out of the seat, you can pick up much more charge than you normally would running around your house. So, you can get a much nastier zap than you would from a doorknob. Of course, this depends on your clothes and the material on the seat. Things get worse in winter because the cold air drops the water content in the air (and you're more likely to wear static prone clothes).

The best thing I've been able to figure out so far is to get out differently. The more you rub against the seat, the more charge you pick up. I've been trying to roll out instead of sliding out. Keeping constant contact with part of the body (metal) while you get out would help too. Sometimes, I put my leg against the door sill and use it as leverage.

On my old car, I used to hold the key and use that to discharge myself to the door because it hurts less. Of course, now I don't have a key...

 

Try spraying your driver's seat with a very mild solution of fabric softener to eliminate static electricity.

Keith

 

You know those warnings at the gas pump you never read? Watch this, please:

The woman had gone back into her car after starting the pump, then got out without grounding to get rid of static electricity. Got the zap when she touched the gas nozzle!!! So always discharge before handling the pump, every time you get out of your car Nowadays tires have more silica, and are not so good at grounding the car. I've read that Static Guard sprayed onto cloth upholstery can help, but I have no experience with that. Leather-faced seats might also help. In any case, leaving the gas nozzle unattended is a bad practice.

 

Polyester pants!

 

That's also why you're not supposed to use a cell phone at the gas station.

Pretty brave of her to grab that nozzle. So is there no danger of explosion? It looked like it was just flaming at the end and not traveling up the line or anything. I suppose they have a safeguard built in for that.

 

Wow. That video is disturbing. I have a 15m and a 5 yr old and getting them out in a hurry is easier said than done... The lady was lucky, it could've been worse.

This car/cloth interior does zapp me A LOT more than my previous car (G35/leather) and come to think of it, my G hardly ever zapped me. I'm thinking its got more to do with the material of the interior.

 

We just had a very dry, very cold stretch of days here in Portland (OR), and our '10 Prius was shocking the crap out of us. It really hurt.

Yesterday, I bought an anti-static strip from the local auto parts store, jacked up the rear of the car, found a nice mounting (hole already provided) spot on what I assume is the rear-wheel stabilizer beam, and attached it.

Of the more than a dozen times we've exited the car since, we've been very, very slightly shocked twice, the remaining times nothing.

$6 solution.

Cheers,
Ron

 

Octavia must be secretly working on a plan to convert her Regular Hybrid into a PHEV Hybrid!

If we could now capture all her static to charge the Hybrid Battery!

Octavia...try some static guard if your having a bad time of it...

 

If you don't mind leather interior, it helps in reducing static shock.
My old Odyssey and Prius had the static shock problem, especially in dry winter climate. After installing leather seat covers in my Prius, problem is now gone.
IMHO, it is mainly caused by the friction beween your clothes and the cloth seat cover. When the seat cover is leather, static charge does not happen.