The owner's manual says "When refueling the vehicle Observe the following"

i highly doubt anyone pays attention to that. legal jargon to protect them i suppose.

i wouldn't advise smoking at any time though

 

yes, especially on prius

 

Coming from an industry where static zap protection is essential to protect sensitive electronics, and having seen a number of videos of static-ignited fuel pump fires, I usually make sure static is discharged before refueling. But I'm nowhere near as diligent as I should be.

If news reports are at all representative, then it seems that serious static-induced fuel pump fires are very infrequent compared to other hazards, such as the frighteningly common vehicle occupant incineration from crash-induced fire before first responders can extricate any crash survivors. A recent example near me earlier this month, a two-car incident:





One driver survived uninjured, the other didn't get out. WSP didn't say which was which.

But based on how many people are driving, I'm not sure they are paying any more attention to this crash fire risk than to fuel pump static risk.

 

Your call. Almost everyone ignores static zap risk at fuel pumps, yet fatalities from the resulting fires remain far far down the Pareto chart.

 

What could that be? Would a wheel lug nut work?

 

Just touch the metal frame of the gas pump. It's grounded and any static voltage on your person will be discharged.

 

The risk goes up winter as the dry air is more inducive to charge build up, and people could get back into the car while refueling which gives more chances to produce that charge.

An exposed bolt tucked into the interior door handle of the Taurus always gave me a shock when getting out in the winter. With other cars, it was touching the metal of the door to close it then. Continuing the above, people that get back into the car might leave the door open when they got back up.

 

There's nothing Prius-specific about those static electricity warnings; they apply to cars generally.

From something I read, I had the sense that the typical cause of the static charge is your clothing when you scoot on the seat getting in or out of the car.

Discharging yourself to something on the car is probably more effective than to something on the pump, because it's the relative voltage between you and the car that could make a spark at the filler neck.

 

gas station static ... the most prevalent place it happens? Not often ... but it goes like this;

You'll notcice - the person gets back in their car .... rubs static via rubbing on her sweater ... probably the same thing by sitting in the driver seat ... now she's ready to grab the pump handle.

Bam .... no surprise here. Move along.
Novel sollution. Stop being so lazy you have to go sit in the car. Stay there. Don't let go of the gas nozzle & then it'll be a non event.


by the way ... Robert, the OP looks strangely like Rodger Hodgrson ... the lead singer for Super Tramp. Way Cool !!!



So ... if you're too young to have heard of them .... my sympathy goes out to you


.

 

I typically use the time to meander over to the engine compartment and check the oil. So by the time the pump cuts off, I haven't been scooching on the seat, and I've touched a few grounded things.

 

Up here I don’t think it’s possible to pump without steadily holding the handle compressed. Unless I’m missing something.

 

I've filled at a few stations in the US where the hold-open latches had been removed from the dispensing nozzles, but that seems to be rare here. There might be certain localities where that's required.

It's been a few years since I was last in Canada (Ottawa) and I don't remember if I bought any fuel there.

Hmm, here's a story:

Petro-Canada is bringing back gas nozzle locking clips | CTV News

 

Not long after moving to Coquitlam, maybe mid-nineties, we were walking up one side of an avenue, and across the street in a (full serve only, mandated in Coquitlam) gas station, an unattended gas pump, locked on, was gushing gas.

I thought, we’ll that’ll get noticed fast.

about five minutes later, walking back, see it’s STILL happening. Just about then the attendant came out of the store, freaked, started running for the car.

never heard anything about it. Must have ended up in local streams.

coquitlam’s still full serve only. We affectionately call it drive-thru ville. Never fill up here.

 

Our local mobile station doesn’t have the clamps.
I just hold it until done. Easy enough when only getting a few gallons

 

Yeah you're pumping gas for a couple of minutes. It's akin to defrosting a few blueberries in the microwave: not much point in walking away.

 

It's such a perfect length of time for a dipstick check though.