unaffected. Of those that were running, eight
showed no response to EMP, and 25 experienced
minor nuisance failures, such as blinking
dashboard lights. Three vehicles stalled when
pulses exceeded 30,000 volts/meter.
The Commission noted that an EMP-induced
failure of 10% or more of vehicles on a busy
expressway could cause significant vehicle
crashes, injuries, and deaths. Ten percent should
be considered a conservative estimate, for today’s
vehicles have far more electronic controls than
the pre-2008 cars studied by the Commission.
EMP Protection for Vehicles
Carmakers include some EMP protection against
surges caused by the starter motor and various
electronic systems. Ideally, all vehicles should
have full EMP protection to prevent massive
accidents should an EMP attack occur. The
complex electronics in modern electric vehicles
might be more vulnerable than conventional cars.
Arthur Bradley, a NASA engineer who holds a
doctorate in electrical engineering, is known for
his online videos demonstrating Faraday shields.
Bradley has developed the Transient Reducing
Auxiliary Plug (or TRAP)surge protection device
for vehicles. The TRAP plugs into a car’s cigarette
lighter (Figure
A
), which is connected directly
across the vehicle’s battery. An ultra-high-speed
transient voltage suppressorinside the TRAP
switches on within a few picoseconds of detecting
an EMP and shunts the EMP pulse away from the
vehicle’s battery cables.
A similar device called the TRAP-B is
connected directly across the battery (Figure
B
).
An EMP pulse that reaches the battery cables
is almost immediately shunted by the TRAP-B.
Bradley also sells ferrite surge protectors that
clamp around the cables (Figure
C
) to reduce the
amplitude of a high-frequency EMP pulse.
You can learn more and watch a demonstration
at disasterpreparer.com/product/double-car-
bundle. While Dr. Bradley cannot guarantee total
EMP protection, his tests are encouraging.
A Higher Priority
If you’re away from home during an EMP attack,
reliable transportation to your residence or
prearranged security site will be your highest
priority. If you’re at home or close by, making
sure you have adequate water, food, and security
may take precedence. In any case, a working car
could be important if you can find fuel to run it. At
minimum, the car’s battery can become a useful
power source.
In “Life without Electricity,” a supplement to
the 2008 EMP Commission report, Peter Vincent
Pry described the rapid collapses in society that
follow major natural disasters (makezine.com/
go/life-without-electricity). He wrote: “Therefore,
we can reasonably infer from the data on storm-
induced blackouts and the known greater
severity of high-altitude nuclear EMP that the
consequences of an EMP attack on the United
States’ infrastructures and society would be an
unprecedented and first order catastrophe.”
If you’re intrigued, I’ve written more on
surviving nuclear war and EMP for Mind Matters:
makezine.com/go/mind-matters-emp.
51
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