Can I Vape in my Prius?

The vape moisture vs human moisture ain't the same amount. You can actually see the vape cloud, which will go into the HV fan intake duct. That moisture will coat the gold buss bars and corrode the terminals giving life to colonies of mold, algae and even corrosion.

If you plan on selling your prius after couple of years then the next owner of your car will have to deal with the potential issue so I wouldn't worry about vaping in a prius. Just vape with a flavor that won't devalue the car due to "bad' scent residue that can possibly linger.

 

Well I smoke and could care less what a potential buyer thinks about the smell of MY car. I did however, do thorough fan/duct cleaning twice as preventative maintenance.

Spoiler alert...once a GEN 3 Prius hits 150,000 miles it's retail and wholesale value isn't squat anyway.

 

The original title of this thread reminds me of an old joke, better seen in comic-strip form, but here goes:

1st frame) Group of friends seated around dinner table having just consumed a fine meal, and the port is being passed around.
2nd frame) Young male guest seated at table asks host for permission to smoke, to which host says " OK, go right ahead if nobody else minds!"
3rd frame) Young male guest starts smouldering, and eventually bursting into flame.
4 frame) Guests still seated, staring at the pile of ashes where the YMG had been sitting.
5th frame) Host remarks "…hmmmm! What disgusting habits some of these youngsters have picked up!"

(rim shot!)

 

Rolling Coal?

 

Humans, and their wet clothing, regularly emit so much water vapor that car windows commonly 'fog up' from the interior condensation so badly that driver vision to the outside is very seriously obstructed. For this reason, all cars now have defogger / defroster settings on climate control systems specifically to clear this condensed vapor off the front windshield and rear window.

 

I'm reminded of the Steve Martin joke.

Do you mind if I smoke?

No, do you mind if I fart?

 

Excuse my ignorance.
But is vaping what I'm witnessing when I'm behind a car with the windows rolled down and suddenly a huge billowing cloud of white smoke comes out of the window like the Vatican has just chosen a new Pope?

 

There’s worse crap floating around the air we all breathe. Vape on.

 

I was semi-serious about my question.
Because I have witnessed this behind cars at stop lights and been 1/2 way tempted to grab a fire extinguisher and blanket and initiate a fire rescue.
Yeah, I'm behind the times.

If that much "vapor" can be created? I'd think that would have to be dangerous while driving. You'd be going from clear vision, to suddenly being surrounded by 1900's Jack The Ripper in London Mist.

But young people won't listen to me.

 

Your generation vapes.
Mine used to smoke.....which is arguably as bad, so I'm not going to cast stones.

I'm going to break with PC tradition and just answer your question.
Vaping will do nothing to harm your car.
It might reduce the street value when it comes time to sell it.....although it can be successfully argued (IMHO) that vaping causes less damage than smoking - and since you're a non boomer, and thus financially irreverent you're almost certainly going to trade your car out in about four years for whatever comes next, so vaping probably isn't your biggest financial sin these days.
I know this because I'm a boomer.
I did all the stupid stuff and learned all the painful lessons when I was your age.
Unlike other animals, humans are not really good as risk assessment or rapidly learning from the mistakes of those that go before them.
It's frustrating for people like me, but it's what we get for not listening to old folks when WE were your age.

You're driving a Prius, so it's not like you're doing the wake-n-bake thing in a Dodge Challenger......

Good Luck!
I hope you get to live to be an old fart like me someday - and if you get there, try to be a little gentler to the spoiled, entitled, irreverent generation that follows you.....

 

OK, looking back, I see I actually failed to answer the original question.

We know what's primarily in the cloud of vape smoke: Propylene Glycol and Glycerin (we can ignore the other components for the time being). The first problem begins when that cloud of chemical vapor starts to cool off, and the vapor droplets get heavier and start to coalesce. The end result is going to be a very thin film of those chemicals on all of the surfaces that are exposed to the vapor. At room temperature, these two chemicals do not evaporate at all. That means the film is there to stay unless/until it's cleaned off. It also means that the film will get a little bit thicker each time you vape in the car.

Propylene Glycol is a relatively inert (and non-toxic) material, as is Glycerin, so you are not going to melt any plastic from that film, but it will eventually get sticky and attract dirt - on the windows, in the carpet and upholstery, in your ventilation system, etc. And yes, in your battery compartment also -which is going to be really difficult to clean.

The glycerin is even more of a problem, though, because it is hygroscopic - it will absorb moisture from the air. So your film will fairly quickly become a blend of Propylene Glycol, Glycerin and Water. And, even if the water evaporates, the Glycerin won't - so the water will come back.

Water and electronics do not play nicely together. Neither do water and unprotected metal. I'm not sure how much of each are in the HV battery, but if I were you, I wouldn't vape in a Prius without all the windows open.

 

What people are not addressing is how distracting is vaping?
Seriously, that's a LOT of mist. That can't do anything but impair vision.

Sure in my family nearly everyone smoked. For my Aunt a vehicles "Ash Tray" was a vital accessory. When automakers turned away from providing them, she was upset.
And there were stories of accidents caused by smoking distraction, dropping a cigarette all aside from the long term health risks caused by cigarette smoking.

But from my admittedly ignorant and novice point of view? I think I wouldn't be as worried about how vaping may or may not affect the vehicle, but in how distracting it may or may not be. Judging from what I see? There is no way I would vape and drive.

 

Gumming the battery cooling system with 'vape residue'. Very interesting question! I thought I had seen everything around here.

I think we need some scientific analysis on this...

 

You guys are funny.