pedropromo60,

I, too, have been shocked by a high voltage (around 650 DC), and the symptoms are certainly what you describe. The most telltale one is that it aches for a long time afterward. When I brushed against this voltage, my entire arm contracted violently.

Like zlrider I am curious how the cardiologist can tell. But you can't tell us that one for good reasons.

Also like zlrider, I believe the tires are low in carbon content. That does have the effect of increasing static shock.

So a couple more questions. Was your daughter the first one out of the vehicle? Are you saying that this problem only affects the passenger door? I was unclear on which seat your daughter sits in. Did she get the door shut when she was shocked?

Like the rest of us, I really hope this situation gets resolved to your satisfaction, but I don't know how it ever could. If it were a continuous problem, your daughter would get shocked every time. If it is intermittent, then the dealer may be unable to find anything without completely removing all hybrid components, and even then it might be a crapshoot. I cannot think of any way for the hv battery to make a circuit with the car body and the earth. The low rolling resistance tires do not conduct electricity (thus building a static charge on the car), and being insulators, will not create a circuit with the battery.

When I touched 650, my finger brushed up against both sides of the circuit, providing a path (not across my heart, but definately in my arm). So, the next option is that your daughter had some other path going. Was she touching the car with one hand? Was she touching only the door? Perhaps the door and the B Pillar? Still, these are connected, as is the entire body and frame, and they could only form one side of the circuit.

I do get the sense that you actually want this problem solved, and are not bad mouthing the FEH. But if I were the dealer, I wouldn't know where to start. And the chances are very high that they don't believe you.

I'll be interested in your answers.

 

I have been getting shocked every time I get out of my Prius. It started after I replaced my OEM tires with Michelin energy plus tires (LRR - Higher MPG).

The cause is the lack of electrical conductivity in most LRR tires. The rubber uses organo-silicates to replace much of the carbon black in the compound; reducing the conductivity of the tires. This is a known problem with this technology.

This IS a static shock phenomenon and if it bothers you, get some old fasioned static discharge straps that hang down from the lower frame and touch the ground when you stop the vehicle. Don't go around spreading a new false rumor that these hybrids are unsafe.

JeffD - EE Professor

 

JeffD,

I don't believe he has been spreading any rumors. He has been very careful to speak of his vehicle only, and should be applauded for that. I believe he truely wants to trust his vehicle again.

-Salsbr

 

We are not trying to spread rumors about hybrids. We believe in the technology or we would not have bought one. We got on the waiting list for the Escape and were very excited when we got the car. Yes we want this fixed so we can continue to enjoy the benefits of a hybrid car.

Answers to questions:

Yes it's always the front passenger door.
She was the first to get out the first time it happened, but I think my son got out of the back seat first the second time.
It happens as she is closing the door from the outside.

Also, there has never been any shock of any kind on the drivers side.

I know that the car is built to be safe and precautions have been made to protect people from injury. If cars always worked the way they were designed there would be no need for warranties and auto makers would never have recalls.

We do appreciate all your responses and understand the need to protect the reputation of hybrids, but we need to protect our family too.

 

My last car had a set of Michelin Energy LRR tires, and I got shocked while getting out of that car fairly frequently. It was never all that bad but I certainly noticed it. I've read through the description of what's going on with the FEH and I have a very difficult time believing that the HV system has anything to do with it. Any kind of short would have caused all kinds of trouble with the vehicle's systems. The current would also flow through the vehicle's frame (low resistance) rather than through a human body to the ground (high resistance, open circuit to boot).

This is static discharge. Severe static discharge, yes. Ford won't have a solution for this. The simplest fix is to remember to maintain contact with the vehicle body while exiting, equalizing the charge between passenger and car by constant contact. The ground straps also sound like a good idea.

 

I'm coming to this thread late, but I've scanned nearly every response and the original post.

I have nothing to add or offer except that I, too, would have qualms about my vehicle (any vehicle, hybrid or non-) if I or my family experienced what's been described. And it certainly doesn't sound like the normal type of static electricity shock we've all received from various vehicles at some point or another.

With your vehicle in for diagnosis/evaluation/repairs, are you driving a loaner vehicle from the dealership (another Ford Escape Hybrid?), a vehicle provided by your insurance, or your own "back up" vehicle? I'm just curious as to how you're without your vehicle for so long, and in line with that, why it's taking Ford so long to offer a solution (even if the solution is one or more of those mentioned here -- grounding strap, anti-static treatment to the leather/interior, etc.

I hope your issue reaches a positive conclusion, and soon. You've shown remarkable patience. As much as I love my Ford Escape Hybrid, if I were having issues with it that made me or my family feel unsafe in it (and this goes for any vehicle I've ever owned or driven), I'd want them resolved or want to be rid of the vehicle if for some reason no resolution was possible.

Best regards,

 

Thank you so much for this reply. Ford has had the car since the end of November and has done nothing to come up with any solutions to the problem. We are lucky that we have a car to drive. Ford would not give us a rental because they didn't offer rental coverage on the Escape Hybrid when we bought it. However, we have been making payments and paying insurance on a car that has been sitting at the dealership being ignored. It's not about the inconvenience or how we are being treated though. I've tried to stay away from Ford bashing because we like the car and want to find the problem, fix it and enjoy our hybrid.

As far as the posts about tires. The car has the original tires on it so the dealer should be able to answer that one.

 

I'm sure you'll realize (if you haven't already) that the dealers are often incredibly uninformed about the FEH. And I'd imagine they have little clue about the fact that the FEH even comes with LRR tires, let alone the difference in the rubber compounds used (that contribute to static electricity build-up in the body).

Good luck with this issue, but when you have questions... pose them to the dealer mostly as a formality, then come here. You'll often be able to go back to the dealer to correct them!

 

Even if this was static the discharge should happen in miliseconds the fact that pedropromo60 is saying that his daughter felt current flow for more that that suggest that more might be going on. it is possible, esp. since she is touching a painted surface, that there is a high resistance between her and the current source so that she is not getting the "full blow" of 300v but something substantially samller. She would have to be in contact with both sides of the HV circuit for there to be any current flow, so more that just one hand would need to be touching the vehicle. IMHO the best thing to do would be to carefully gather info about exactly how she exited the vehicle and the state of the vehicle at the time, then try to reporduce the effect using a volt meter in place of the girl. Although the likelyhood of there being a problem with the HV system is very very low, it's not something you want to mess with and does pack enough punch to kill. Another voltage soure could be the ingition system for the ICE. I've experianced this "poke" on another vehicle and it does hurt!

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pravus Prime

7. Why does it hiss when I unlock/open a door or a few minutes after?

I wonder if this could have something to do with the problem. Any system that rapidly releases pressure can built up a pretty good static charge.

I was a firefighter for 20 years. I can tell you that if you discharge a CO2 extinguisher w/o the extinguisher resting on the ground, a static charge will build up. The shock you get will leave you flat on your back wondering what happened.

A static discharge from the FEH that is severe enough to bother somone this much is also severe enough to ignite gasoline vapors while refueling. I wouldn't let anyone sit in the car during refueling until the problem has been fixed.