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Conductively modified thermoplastic olefins (TPOs) have been developed using low levels of conductive carbon fillers, <6 wt.%, without sacrificing the favorable mechanical and rheological properties exhibited by these materials for the automotive market. The bulk electrical properties of these materials exhibit traditional percolation behavior when the samples are compression molded. However, conductively modified injection molded materials exhibit a high surface resistivity, typically greater than 1016 ohm cm, which is compensated by a relatively low resistance interior, defined as a core resistance, of less than 109 ohm/cm. The threshold for electrostatic paintability has been identified based on core resistance measurements, electrostatic dissipation results, and electrostatic painting transfer efficiency data. The core resistance must be less that 109 ohm/cm for charge dissipation to occur and for any significant increase in paint film builds to be observed.