Safe to sit in the car while Super Charging?

[mmccking]

I recall my BMW i3 owner's manual suggested not to stay in the car while it's charging. Assuming the implied reason is radiation related (vs. physical safety), wouldn't it be worse when Super Charging a Tesla?

What's the general opinion? Although I only briefly looked, I wasn't able to find an official Tesla statement on this.

The batteries can get very hot as noted by radiated heat coming out from underneath the car while SC. Sure the cabin is probably shielded, but all that energy surging is so close to parts that are prone to cancers. Am I being too paranoid?

 

[scottm]

Perfectly fine time to have a snooze.

Without a tinfoil jumpsuit.

The batteries won't hurt you if you don't ingest them.

 

[Kermee]

You're fine... Even if you stick the contacts of a 9V battery to your tongue while eating Pop Rocks™ but you might feel a bit of a tingling sensation.

 

[scottm]

You're fine... Even if you stick the contacts of a 9V battery to your tongue while eating Pop Rocks™ but you might feel a bit of a tingling sensation.

As long as you don't ingest you'll be fine, and now this.... what is it with people sticking batteries in their mouths? Sneeze and you'll swallow it and cook your gizzard.

Don't lick the supercharger handle to see if it's working, OK? Promise.

 

[Kermee]

Don't lick the supercharger handle to see if it's working, OK? Promise.

 

[jsmay311]

LOL @ this thread.

I recall my BMW i3 owner's manual suggested not to stay in the car while it's charging.

Anyone know if this is real? I just skimmed the i3 manual section about charging and found nothing.

Maybe, just maybe, there might be some rationale where in extremely hot conditions they don't want someone using A/C for cooling the cabin at the same time as charging the battery in case the A/C compressor can't keep up with cooling the cabin and battery at the same time(?). And therefore they'd recommend not sitting inside during charging(?). (It's a stretch, I know.)

But, no. You won't get cancer from being near warm batteries.

 

[BOBEDIGITL]

LOL....I've been at a super charger 5 or 6 times now...it's rare to not see someone in their car. And the super chargers I've visited were the ones in shopping malls.

 

[JPUConn]

Yes. Even in the rain too!

 

[kmcdds]

Is it EMF's that you are concerned about?

 

[Jedi2155]

I've measured EMF before, and it drops off exponentially, and really quickly. Within 1-2 feet its almost 1/1000th of its original strength. I wouldn't be concerned of EMF.

 

[garrett5688]

The danger is you gaining weight. Get out and move!

 

[xyeahtony]

I recall my BMW i3 owner's manual suggested not to stay in the car while it's charging. Assuming the implied reason is radiation related (vs. physical safety), wouldn't it be worse when Super Charging a Tesla?

What's the general opinion? Although I only briefly looked, I wasn't able to find an official Tesla statement on this.

The batteries can get very hot as noted by radiated heat coming out from underneath the car while SC. Sure the cabin is probably shielded, but all that energy surging is so close to parts that are prone to cancers. Am I being too paranoid?

yes you are

 

[ℬête Noire]

I've measured EMF before, and it drops off exponentially, and really quickly. Within 1-2 feet its almost 1/1000th of its original strength. I wouldn't be concerned of EMF.

Not only that, I was under the impression that most of the current moving at a Supercharger is DC, rather than AC. Unless there is a lot of square wave frequency of that (basically on, off of the current) happening there's going to be very little EMF. Constant current doesn't radiate, the only thing it can do is create magnetic fields which don't anything until you get up to MRI levels which is orders of magnitude past what's happening at the Supercharger.

 

[Cirrus MS100D]

Not only that, I was under the impression that most of the current moving at a Supercharger is DC, rather than AC. Unless there is a lot of square wave frequency of that (basically on, off of the current) happening there's going to be very little EMF. Constant current doesn't radiate, the only thing it can do is create magnetic fields which don't anything until you get up to MRI levels which is orders of magnitude past what's happening at the Supercharger.

I dunno about that.... when I’m SuperCharging, I can look up from the driver seat and see RIGHT THROUGH THE ROOF TO THE SKY! Since MRIs can see through people, this must be the same thing happening here, no?

I also noticed this same phenomenon on the Model 3 we rented. Very odd. Makes me suspicious there is some sort of coverup or conspiracy going on...

 

[Trevor B]

You can't be serious

 

[BLKMDL3]

I am not even going to answer this question. I'm still alive and I wait in my car while it charges.

 

[jsrawa]

This is a topic that drives me crazy. There are two forms of radiation, ionizing and non-ionizing. Ionizing is the most dangerous, non-ionizing is regarded as safe and doesn’t contain enough energy to cause damage. Any radiation in your car is non-ionizing, you are safe. I would love to see where BMW has that in writing.

 

[ℬête Noire]

This is a topic that drives me crazy. There are two forms of radiation, ionizing and non-ionizing. Ionizing is the most dangerous, non-ionizing is regarded as safe and doesn’t contain enough energy to cause damage. Any radiation in your car is non-ionizing, you are safe. I would love to see where BMW has that in writing.

In theory non-ionizing could cause issues if you were exposed to enough for long enough periods, as it can heat your tissues up. But that's way out of the scope of what charging the car would be capable of, too. You'd be more at risk to the sun baking your beans on a sunny summer day.

I have some sympathy for the OP, so have tried not to be a dcik about this. It sounds crazy to people with some technical background but not everyone has that and there are FUD sources out there shoveling this stuff.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

Yes. Even in the rain too!

But, not lightning.

Apparently you're not supposed to Supercharge during a lighting storm.

Who knew?

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

Does anyone know if the I3 manual actually says that?

Generally people come up with all sorts of warning that make no sense at all. Mostly they seem to serve as liability waivers.

The biggest concern that I see is the chance of fire is higher with supercharging than just sitting there. If you account for all the connections, wiring, current, etc.

So if you supercharged in your car you could be the one person every 50 years that dies while sleeping in their car while supercharging.

Where you didn't hear the "please exit the vehicle because apparently I am now on fire" warning.