It's winter here in Sydney, and it's been a warm, dry winter (it's 18C today, and it hasn't rained since I got back from China two weeks ago; it apparently rained once during the four weeks I was away). It's quite electric-shocky weather: I'm getting the occasional shock from shopping trolleys and escalators and stuff. I am prone to this sort of thing: Beijing in April during the dust storms was a nightmare: I was getting visible sparks from door handles in my hotel. But in the two weeks since I got home, every time I get out of my car (2008 Gen II), I get an electric shock from the back of the driver's door window frame as I close the door. It's not a terrible shock, but it is worse than the ones I'm getting from shopping trolleys and escalators. This hasn't happened in the past: I've had no problems with shocks from the car in previous summers or winters, but it is unusually dry at the moment. Is there a known problem with electric shocks from the body of a Gen II Prius? Is it something I should mention at my next service, or is it something I should address immediately? Or is it just a perfectly normal dry-weather thing?
That has not happened to me with the two Prius's I have had. It did happen to a Cadillac my father had. Turn out that the speaker wire kind of broke (the outside plastic covering wore thin) and the metal was touching the door, so every time you touched the door you got a little shock.
No this isn't anything specific to the Prius, it can happen with any car and is usually related to the seat (or seat cover) material and is exacerbated by low humidity weather conditions. Are you using any seat covers? If you can't find any other solution then it's generally possible to minimize the effect by simply adjusting the way you approach or exit the car. Try holding the door as you exit your seat and maintaining firm contact with your hand on a metal part of the door until you have fully exited the car (until you are actually outside are standing beside it). This causes the static charge to equalize and you should find you can close the door without any shock. If you also find that in dry windy weather you sometimes get a shock when you're returning to the car, typically through the tips of your fingers as you reach for the door handle, then there's a technique to minimize this as well. If you approach and make first contact with a broad part of your body instead of something pointy like your finger, then the electrostatic voltage is greatly reduced. Without wanting to insult anyone by insinuating that they have a broad backside, your bum is the best part of the body to use here. Push your back or bum toward the door before reaching around and touching with your hand. Even in the most severe electrostatic conditions the worst you should get is a very slight prickle type feeling through your cloths. Personally I've never had any electrostatic problems with my Prius, but I used to get this problem often with a previous car that had nylon seat covers. It was shocking (literally). In the Prius I have good quality lambswool (on lambs hide) seat covers. I'm not sure why this material is as good as it is, but they're just amazingly comfortable. They're warm in winter but don't seem to get hot in summer either, and never any static problems with these.
If your car has air bags in the driver and front passenger seatbacks (I believe all the Prius's have them), you cannot use any seat covers over the seats (the air bags cannot deploy).
Clothing materials can also greatly affect this problem. Man made fibres can increase the risk of getting shocks natural fibres cotton, and wool reduce it. John (Britprius)
I agree. I used to get static shocks all the time before I started using fabric softener. I can't remember the last time I had one.
Hello everyone, Thanks for your suggestions. I'm relieved to hear that it seems that there's nothing wrong with my car and I'm not going to get electrocuted. Hmmm..... You live in Australia, and you seem to be aware of the not-inconsiderable broadness of my backside. Do you live near me? Or are you stalking me? Nice idea. But I really don't like seat covers. I always find them incredibly uncomfortable. Yes, I always wear natural fibres. If I wear anything man-made, I basically just spark my way around like some sort of crap electric super-hero. If I'm wearing man-mind fibres, people can actually see sparks coming off me on a dry day. That would be nice. I like fabric softener, but my wife doesn't. I can't really be bothered to do separate washes. Hmmm.... My shoes are definitely cheap. Not sure whether the soles are weird.
