Sorry to bump an almost year old thread, but for those of us without the leather seating surfaces, is it standard to expect to be shocked everytime you exit your FEH? My '07 seems to generate enough static electricity that I worry about exiting the vehicle at gas stations on dry SoCal days.
Also the seat belt buckle stay (stops the buckle from dropping to the floor each time) has broken off already (took delivery Oct '06). So far no major complaints. Much less cargo space than the '05 Exploder who's lease ended, much rougher ride, noisier, less power and not really intended for 5 adult passengers. With gas at over $3 a gallon, right now I am just appreciating the better mileage. The other things I'll get used to.

 

As long as you touch the exterior of the car (preferable with your entire hand) to discharge yourself, it shouldn't be a problem at gas stations. My 2004 Toyota Solara did that all the time (until I traded last week for an '08 MMH :-) ). The fires causes by static charges at gas stations have fueled the myth about cell phones causing fires because it is mostly younger people that have static problems (older people tend to discharge themselves when they grab around the door frame to pull themselves out of the seat). Cell phones aren't really that big of a risk, its the static electricity. Like I said though, discharge yourself before grabbing the pump and you shouldn't have any problems.

 

It may have a lot to do with the choice of clothing YOU wear. I can't imagine that it's Ford defect .

Your note about gas stations is interesting though. A friend of mine had her Mazda truck catch on fire. We did some research and I was surprised to find out how often it does happen. The stats I saw said it tended to more often be women, as they're more prone to start the gas flowing, and then get back in the car. When they get out and touch the nozzle, there can be a spark from the nozzle tip to the fill pipe (down inside the fill pipe), and poof......your car becomes lamp. I've since noted that a lot of nozzle handles are well insulated, but yes, place your OTHER hand against the car before you touch the gas nozzle. Just a good idea in any case.

 

There was ONE other person on here about a year ago who claimed his teenager daughter, and ONLY her, would get painful, strong shocks exiting the vehicle. His "A" student was smart enough to know the difference between static, and "high voltage" he would say. Well, no matter how many people chimed in that it was only static, he was not convinced.

Well, static is VERY high voltage, and yes, it can be very painful.
It is also "hot" enough at the point of arc to ignite gasoline fumes ( but not much else ). But it is very LOW current ( amperes ) and hamless to living things such as your family and pets.

Happens to me in my cloth (other) car all the time.

Btw... you need to "ground" yourself to an earth ground, such as a metal post, sign, or even the pump itself before you begin pumping.

Static charge occurs when electrons literally scrape off some atoms of air and stick to you and your car when your car is rushing past the air, and also when your clothes scrape across the seats. This happens more easily with some fabrics, than others. Wool is a bad one. Your car is isolated from the ground by 4 rubber tires. When you scrape across the seats, an imbalance can occur, and this "potential" is some voltage. Touching a bare metal part of the car will put you and the car back into balance, but will not balance you and the pump, which is what you really want, no voltage, and no "potential" for a spark between you and the pump.

And a pump fire is pretty RARE. Even 100, or 1000 fires a year is a TINY amount, when you consider 200 million drivers, times 52 fill-ups per year!
1000 fires from 10 billion fill-ups is 0.00001%.

 

I tried my best to dissuade the guy as well... I remember the best part was that it was ONLY the passenger door supposedly. If it were a defect... the ENTIRE FRAME is ONE conductor! Most tow lighting harnesses don't even bother to run a ground wire for that reason.. they just hook to some sheet metal on the body. I'm not sure HOW the one door was supposed to be getting electrified but not the rest of the car...but you are right... he was "unconvincable".

 

Thanks all! Clothing mostly cotton dress casual (Docker's type) and on the weekends jeans and t-shirts. I just noticed it much more with the FEH than the previous Exploder which also had cloth seats, but a much softer material. Does not happen with the '02 Stang which has leather seating surfaces, nor the '05 'Stang with cloth seats as well. The FEH seats seem a bit more rough and more likely to cause friction...so on cold dry mornings or evenings or in severe santa ana wind conditions here in SoCal I grab the top of the door as I place my foot down on the pavement. It assists a bit in "grounding". My younger bro FE v-6 and older sis FE v-6 have also noted the "shocking" experience as well with theirs.

 

Its been noted that the LRR tires (low rolling resistance tires) seem to have a higher incidence of allowing the vehicle to build up static. What I've seen implies that because there is less carbon in the tire, they are even less conductive than normal tires (I have no idea if this is true or not). Its been said somewhere that people who work toll booths HATE seeing a Prius coming along because they often get a NASTY jolt from the person inside if they touch while exchanging the cash.