Does your Prius shock you?

When humidity is low, you'll generate more static electricity.

 

Yes there is something you can do about it. As I mentioned before. Your clothes are heavily static'ed charged from the clothes dryer. Don't you ever notice the static cling? Use one sheet of Bounce ANTI-STATIC. In the dryer. No more shock. Its purpose in life is to REMOVE THE STATIC CHARGE from your clothes. Your clothes will no longer store a charge. I never ever get shocked and I live in Florida.
All the sun.

 

get it all the time, not just with my car but with other stuff as well.

 

It's your tyres.
I got shocked all the time until I put new tyres on the Prius and since then no more shocks. I had Michelin Energy XM1 tyres on it which were factory standard but when I had Michelin Energy XM1+ tyres fitted there were no more shocks, well apart from the price of the things.
Try a static strap under the car.

 

Pat,

Most LRR tires replace some or all of the carbon black in the rubber compound with organo-silicates. Non-LRR tires will slowly drain static electricity to ground since carbon black is electrically conductive. Organo- silicates are not electrically conductive so LRR tires will allow a higher build-up of a static charge.

I had noticed the same shocking effect with Michelin MXV4+ "Energy Saving" tires. My Nokian WR tires seem to not exhibit as much of this effect.

JeffD

 

Those static straps look retarded!

Anyways, I always get shock too.

 

Or a blind pedestrian.

Tom

 

Same thing isn't it? Can't you buy them on ebay too? But I hear you have to buy the bolt kit separately.

 

They aren't as durable as a grounding strap, so they have to be replaced more often.

Tom

 

Static strap .... what happens in a lightning strike event? I'm just thinking of the innate safety of a steel body car structure eg Faraday Cage Effect

 

It's not Prius-specific to shock you. I got shocked by any car/object I touch sometimes. It's the dry humidity and clothes you're wearing to generate these static charges.

 

Lightning in the top out the bottom, no different.

 

...dirty underwear.

Tom

 

I'm surprised at this in a not-so-dry environment... is it what you're wearing? Whatever, if you keep in touch with a metal part of the car as you get out, the charge will transfer slowly and you won't feel it and the voltage will never build up.

 

Yep, keep a hand on the door frame as you slide out. The only other solution is to have the seat covered with leather.

When fueling any car *do not* start the pump and then get back in the car! Stay at the pump nozzle. If you leave and return you can acquire a static charge, and if you discharge it near the nozzle you can start a fire, as in this video:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3x-8tj49ac]YouTube - Gas Pump Fire[/ame]

 

I get zapped by my 93 Voyager worse than my Prius. Develop a habit of always keeping one finger in contact with a metal surface as you get out of the car. This keeps your body from developing a potential static charge as you scuff along the seat while getting out.

 

I've been zapped in nearly all the cars I've owned that had cloth seats. I never really noticed it in the Trans am or Corvette both of which had leather seats.