Jodie Kidd donned a pretty scary Faraday suit in order to safely allow a million volts of electricity to flow through her and promote the new Kia EV9
July 21, 2023 at 10:00
Model, car enthusiast, and TV presenter driver Jodie Kidd has been electrocuted. Fortunately, although a million volts of electricity passed through her body, she’s fine, and the event was performed as a stunt to promote Kia’s latest family SUV.
To promote the EV9 as an electric vehicle that’s perfect for families, or whatever, she was given a chain mail suit that acted as a Faraday cage and placed next to a lightning machine. The suit protected her from the million volts that were emitted by the machine, and allowed arcs of electricity to shoot out of her fingers.
Footage from this stunt was then used to stitch together images of her shooting electricity out of her fingers while standing in front of the Kia and wearing a more flattering (read: less unsettling and uncomfortable) outfit.
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“Being electrocuted was one of the most petrifying things I’ve ever done – but also such an amazing experience,” said Kidd. “Not many people can say they have had a million volts through their body and been able to shoot lightning with their fingers!”
For Kia’s part, it says that it paid to for this stunt to promote the EV9 as an ideal EV for large families. Starting at £64,995 (rumors suggest that it will start at $63,000 in the U.S.), with a range of more than 300 miles (483 km), and seating for seven, it certainly is a family-oriented electric SUV!
“As a parent, I know exactly how important the environment is to the next generation. I have had many conversations with my son Indio about what we can do to live more sustainably – including buying an electric car,” said Kidd. “This stunt was all about celebrating electricity and how the future of motoring is electric, for the launch of Kia’s new fully electric car, the EV9.”