You can bet that Rivian’s engineers brainstormed a hundred different uses for the four 110-volt sockets they fitted to the R1T truck, including providing power for camping trips, DIY jobs, construction site work and enabling to it to be used as a mobile office. But it’s safe to assume they never imagined their electric truck would be used to perform a vasectomy.
That’s exactly what happened in Austin, Texas, recently though. Christopher Yang MD was scheduled to perform the snip when he hit a snag: the power had gone out at his clinic. Yang’s normal course of action would have been to rearrange the appointment but he claims the patient didn’t want to reschedule because he had already taken the time off work.
The doc’s solution was to run a power cable from his Forest Green R1T parked outside the surgery into the operating room where it was hooked up to the equipment used to butcher the patent’s “equipment.” Yang doesn’t give a full list of the hardware that drew current from the Rivian but we imagine it included a grinder and a rusty reciprocating saw.
“I performed what is likely the word’s first Rivian-powered vasectomy today,” Yang declared proudly on a Twitter post with the hashtag “Rivian stories.”
“Power in clinic went out, patient didn’t want to reschedule because he already had time off. Electrocautery was normal, procedure went great!”
Related: Rivian R1T Truck Owner Launches Boat Like The Boss Of Bear Lake
I performed what is likely the world’s first @Rivian powered vasectomy today. Power in clinic went out, patient didn’t want to reschedule cause he already had time off. Electrocautery was normal, procedure went great! #rivianstories #rivian pic.twitter.com/VLDg91r37d
— Christopher Yang (@ChrisYangMD) September 1, 2022
Yang doesn’t say whether the patient was fully aware of the doc’s unusual solution to the power outage, but some commenters seemed to be less than impressed, either suggesting that the doctor was acting inappropriately by posting the story online, or risked legal repercussions if a problem transpired with the procedure down the line. But Twitter users pointed out that Yang was merely using his EV as a generator, which is exactly what hospitals do when they suffer power interruptions.
Meanwhile, you can bet that the whole tale will have a bunch of die-hard petrolheads and EV-skeptics across the globe feeling thoroughly vindicated. They now have proof that electric vehicles really do make you less of a man.