why do i get kind of grounded/slight electrocuted wwhenever i touch my car,or anybody's car when its on?

Question

i never had problem if the car is not running though.but whenever its on and i had to touch the door/open the door,it makes me feel electrocuted.u know the feeling when u had an electric shock/grounded from touching an electronic appliances and your hand/feet is wet?it happens to me most esp at the door and at the metal part where windshield and the door meet.its been a while now so i feel really stupid abt it,like i open the door now with a gloved hands or push the door open with anything but not my hand.anubody who knows what might be the reason?thank u so much..

Answer 1

What you are experiecing is ESD which stands for electro static dishard. It is the same as rubbing your feet on a carpet and then touching a metal object. You see, when you are inside your car you are isolated. This means you are not grounded. Inside your car because you are rubing the seat, the carpet and through the movement of air thought the air conditioner system your body or clothes are being charged. Because you are not grounded the charge has no place to go so it keeps building on. THe moment you step out of the car you touch metal. The metal in your car is grounded to the battery. So, now the charge in your body or clothes has a place to go. The thing is that it lets go of everything all at once so it hurts. The same could happen while getting into the car.

An experiment to run is to see if you experience the same thing in various cars. Also, once you get shoked touch the metal again to see if you get shocked again inmediately. You see you should only get shocked once. Not twice in a row. If you are getting shock more than once in a row (withing seconds of each other) then it may be that your car is not properly grounded. Note that if your car is not well grounded then it should happen all the time in all weather conditions.

ESD will be more noticeable during dry seasons like winter. There isn't much you can do. Perhaps touch the metal part with a bigger area of your body so that the charge is not concentrated in a single point.

Answer 2

It could be the clothes you are wearing are causing you to build up a small electric charge.