Will Your Car Survive an EMP?

[Passport1]

I read a book titled 'One Second After' a few years ago and this question has dogged me since.

The answer seems to be maybe. Here is a short video with the opinion of an engineer. It is eleven years old but although cars may have evolved, the physics of an EMP have not.

 

[Capt W]

During the final years of my USAF career I was involved in several projects that included EMP hardening, and I was quite familiar with the study this gentleman references. And while there are many, many variables to consider with regard to an EMP burst (altitude, proximity, etc.), the notion of everything electrical being "fried" is preposterous scaremongering.

 

[wwillson]

If there is a nuclear war, whether your car is driveable will be the least of your worries. The lucky won't survive the initial bursts.

 

[Trav]

The old mechanical injection diesel will survive.

 

[CleanSump]

Everything is encased in a metal shell. Your car, unless it has a plastic or composite body, acts as a Faraday Cage providing some protection. Also, most of the boxes are in conductive metal boxes that are grounded to the chassis. They should be fairly safe.
We can get into if current is induced into the light wiring since they're not shielded, but....
what are you going to do about it anyway? Get an old carb car or an old pre-W124 Diesel Mercedes. Has to be a pre-computer car.

Remember Kids - Duck and Cover. Get under your old wood school desk. That'll protect you.

 

[Ausfahrt]

The old mechanical injection diesel will survive.

So will my '63 Chevy Stepside.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Yes, I believe they will.

The metal body is essentially a faraday cage. The electronics are shielded to prevent interference with the radio. Of course everything is dependent on how close. Full on EMP 5 miles away - likely nothing does.

The reason the grid will not is all the power lines are antennas.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

You might lose a door module or something stupid that isn't shielded, but as @SC Maintenance said ... a car is a giant faraday cage.

I suspect early electronic ignition vehicles won't survive. Ford Duraspark and TFI ... sorry, it ain't going to run Those could barely survive a damp morning.

 

[CleanSump]

Yes, I believe they will.

The metal body is essentially a faraday cage. The electronics are shielded to prevent interference with the radio. Of course everything is dependent on how close. Full on EMP 5 miles away - likely nothing does.

The reason the grid will not is all the power lines are antennas.

A "full on" EMP 5 miles away might literally cook you a little bit.

 

[SC Maintenance]

If there is a nuclear war, whether your car is driveable will be the least of your worries. The lucky won't survive the initial bursts.

I don't know. If they EMP'd the east coast and knocked out the grid, in theory the Western Interconnect and ERCOT would still be up and could come to our aid.

I would come to your aid if it was reversed. I hope you all man up if it happens.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

If there is a nuclear war, whether your car is driveable will be the least of your worries. The lucky won't survive the initial bursts.

This is a great book with a little too realistic description of what would happen after a nuke hitting.

 

[wwillson]

This is a great book with a little too realistic description of what would happen after a nuke hitting.

I already read it, not for the faint of heart. The scenario is all too real, the results are complete devastation and as I said, the lucky don't survive.

 

[wemay]

"Will Your Car Survive an EMP?"

Only if running ESP 5W-30

But in all honesty, that's the least of my worries where this scenario is concerned. It truly is a horrifying thought.

 

[IndyIan]

If there is a nuclear war, whether your car is driveable will be the least of your worries. The lucky won't survive the initial bursts.

Well, for some people it would be good to use the last tank of gas to get out of the fall out plume, and get away from urban centres.

I think realistically, the only threat of a nuclear explosion or EMP is from a terrorist group, and then it will likely be only one, or a few at most, so just getting into a location to reduce the radiation dose, or a place with a functioning power grid, in the first couple weeks would be all you need to survive in good shape.

Hopefully the Chinese spy balloon episode taught some lessons on detecting low speed flying objects, so floating one of those over isn't a low budget delivery option for a large EMP.

 

[CleanSump]

I live maybe 8 miles as the crow flies from the Mall and less than 2 miles from JBA, so I just hope it's quick and we don't suffer if it happens.

 

[2005jettatdi]

In October 1962 I was in 4th grade. We lived with the very real likelyhood of "Nuclear combat toe-to-toe with the Russkies." It hung over our heads until about 1990. So I am past worrying about global nuclear war.

​

 

[dnewton3]

Ya know, EMPs aren't the only thing which can take down large sectors of critical operations ...
Remember the solar flares which hit Canada several years back? Ask them how unpleasant that was.
Will society end with EMPs? No. But it won't be any picnic, either.

Further, given the integration of cars with their CAN and LIN systems, I'd fear that any substantial EMP would disable a car to a sufficient point where it would be unusable in the short-term. Perhaps not "destroyed" to a point of being unfixable, but certainly to a point where it would be a major cluster-event for several days.
I need someone who's well versed in this concept to correct me if I'm wrong ...
As I understand it, the faraday cage effect is only successful when the cage is free-standing and doesn't have inbound conductive carriers. For example, you could have a metal pole-barn and think you're OK, but the electrical service wires which enter the building would carry the EMP effect inside, and blow circuits of anything plugged into the outlets. Now, maybe I've been misled, but that essentially means that a building which is metal is ONLY effective as a faraday cage if it is not penetrated by carrier conduits into the system. So how would a car be any different? The metal shell of a car is still directly connected to chassis ground, making the entire car a giant EMP antenna, right??? Would not the EMP effect simply carry through the ground to all the electrical systems?

What would concern me is that in the video, the "engineer 775" noted that the test was with an "simulated EMP" ....
Anyone who's worked in a lab knows that lab experiments don't always translate to real world experiences. I'll believe vehicles are hardened when we see a real nuclear detonation of high yield over a major metropolitan area and the vehicles continue unaffected. Until then, I remain skeptical.

 

[Chris142]

The old mechanical injection diesel will survive.

But will the electronics in the voltage regulator for the alternator? I might be stuck driving a 1957 case tractor since its regulator has points in it.

 

[BISCUT]

If there is a nuclear war, whether your car is driveable will be the least of your worries. The lucky won't survive the initial bursts.

Fact! Anywhere proximate to the blast, and a human wouldn't feel a thing. Those who survive are destined for a slow and painful death.

 

[wwillson]

Fact! Anywhere proximate to the blast, and a human wouldn't feel a thing. Those who survive are destined for a slow and painful death.

The fireball is 135,000,000 degrees F anything it touches vaporizes, about 2 miles in diameter and flammable materials catch on fire 15 miles away, third degree buns on exposed skin 20 miles away. Imagine the fires that would result. It would make the firestorms of WW II look trivial. All targeted cities burn completely, all large cities are targets.