Talk about truck nuts. A Texas-based urologist performed a vasectomy using the battery in his Rivian R1T pickup to power his surgical equipment. And unlike some of the weird Tesla stunts we’ve seen lately, this Rivian-powered procedure was done out of necessity.
Dr. Christopher Yang was set to perform a vasectomy at his clinic in Austin when a power outage struck the area. His patient didn’t want to reschedule the appointment because he’d already scheduled time off from work to recover. They needed to come up with a solution. That’s when genius struck.
Dr. Yang used an extension cord to plug his surgical equipment into his new Rivian R1T’s onboard power outlet. By all accounts, the procedure was a success.
“When talking to the patient, we mentioned that we could just reschedule the procedure itself, or, if he was up for it, we could do the vasectomy using power from the truck. And he had a good laugh as well, and we agreed,” Yang told WGLT.
Like numerous modern vehicles with adventuring potential, the R1T comes with multiple 110-volt power outlets, which means the vehicle can pretty much be used as a mobile generator. Vasectomies reportedly don’t need a ton of power – just enough to power an electrocautery device.
Despite this, Dr. Yang still took a couple precautions just in case power from the Rivian was interrupted. WGLT says he had a backup plan – a handheld, battery-operated cautery device that doesn’t offer the precise control of the plug-in model. Old school. Not the device I’d want used for my vasectomy, personally. Luckily, Dr. Yang didn’t need to use it. There was more than enough power for the under-20-minute procedure.
“I’m not sure that this [vasectomy] should be planned use of the truck,” Yang said, “but it’s definitely great to have that as a backup just in case.”