May 31, 2015
lagann I was there charging and a thunderstorm rolled in extremely quickly. There were two of us at the charger at the moment. I hear an extremely loud boom and saw some lightning. I'm not sure if it hit my car directly, but it was extremely close. My car flipped out and gave 9 errors. The other guy seemed fine and he drove away. My car complained that the power was extremely low, that it can't charge, and that the 12v battery was about to die. After the storm went away I tried to disconnect the car from the supercharger, but it wouldn't disconnect. I was on the phone with Tesla for about 4 hours. They said this is their first case of something like this. They sent a tow truck over to try to jumpstart the 12v battery and tow it, but even when he did that it still wouldn't disconnect from the supercharger, so I have to wait till they can get a technician out there to manually disconnect it so they can tow it to the service center. Also, the sunroof is stuck open and we couldn't get it closed. So now I just have to play the waiting game and wait for them to call me and get the key. They offered a taxi and to put me up in a hotel for the night, but I was visiting a friend here in Columbus before so I'm just staying with him till this is figured out. Once again, Tesla service went above and beyond and was extremely helpful through this whole matter. It really helped keep the stress down in the situation, since I already was crying a bit. I'll let you guys know what they find.
Also, here's a link to the video my dashcam took during it all: Lightning hits my Tesla - YouTube
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May 31, 2015
Sgutz Wow, that's crazy. Thankfully you're safe. Judging by the video, if the Lightning didn't hit your car it was definitely very close by. Did you smell ozone (like fresh air)? That's usually a good indicator that it was too close for comfort.
I guess Tesla will be particularly interested so they can decide if they need to make design changes to the car or SC.�
May 31, 2015
lagann Yeah, I definitely smelled ozone. I couldn't find any burn marks anywhere nearby, though. I checked all the trees around the area and the ground. It may have struck somewhere on the building right behind the supercharger, though.�
May 31, 2015
MileHighMotoring Wow, freaky and scary.Was it open in that rain before the strike? Or did the strike cause it to open?
That is some impressive customer service. Well done, Tesla.�
May 31, 2015
3s-a-charm Wow! That's incredible... When did the sunroof open? Obviously with the rain you had it closed but did you open it when you were trying to figure things out on the phone with Tesla? Love these dashcam videos documenting unusual events.�
May 31, 2015
lagann I opened it to vent after the strike because the air conditioning turned off. It seemed to be related to the low power errors. When we were finished and the car had the touchscreen on, nothing we could do would get it to close, though. At least it was just open to the venting point. I just stuck a towel in the crack to keep moisture out.�
May 31, 2015
ecarfan Okay, let me see if I've got this right. At about 8 seconds into the video there is a crash of thunder. I didn't see any lightning. The wipers continued to work. Then the car's computer said "Parking mode disabled". Is that correct? The wipers kept working. And then you had a lot of errors shown in the driver's display and you could not disconnect the charging cable?
And I don't understand the sunroof situation; obviously you didn't have it open before the lightning hit. Did it partially open after the error messages appeared?
What do you mean you are waiting for "them to call me and get the key"?
Keep us posted. This is certainly a freak occurrence, and I'm sorry you are stuck in your car!
NOTE: having a car get hit by lightning directly or very close will have adverse effects on ANY car because all cars have multiple microprocessors onboard that are effected by high voltage discharges and intense EMF. The unfortunate situation described here is hardly unique to Tesla and EVs except for the fact that the charging cable could not be disconnected, since ICEs do not have charging cables.�
May 31, 2015
EdA That is incredible.
When in the video did the lightening strike? (I had the sound off)�
May 31, 2015
andrewket Thanks for sharing and good luck to you. If the car really took a hit it wouldn't surprise me if Tesla decides they want the car for detailed analysis. In that event, they should give you a new car. If I was me, I'd take the SC cabinet that you used offline too until I could examine it.�
May 31, 2015
tga Not to trivialize it, but I suspect if you had a direct hit, there'd by a lot of visible, physical damage to the car. I know of 2 houses that had direct lightning strikes. One caught fire and was a total loss, the other had a minor fire, charred marks down the exterior siding, and most electronics were toast (all TV's, the alarm system, etc). I'd guess you were the victim of surges on the power line from a nearby hit.
I was in an airplane 20+ years ago, circling IAH that was closed due to storms. I was staring out the window when lighting either struck the wing or not far past it. Scared the %#(! out of me!
Good luck getting it fixed!�
May 31, 2015
Grisik What kind of dash cam is that? It looks great.�
May 31, 2015
lagann There is a flash in the video. Neither the front or the back cameras saw any bolt. It was definitely nearby, though. I could smell the ozone in the air. The "Parking mode disabled" you hear is my dashcam when the power got all funky. Most of the functions of the car were still fine. You could open the hatchback and the car doors, and the touchscreen still mostly worked. The air conditioning quit working, but I suspect it was disabled because of the low power error.
As I said above, I was stuck in the car for a while, and without the air conditioning I opened the sunroof to vent. Later when I was on the phone with Tesla it refused to close, though. I tried through the touchscreen multiple times without any luck.
I had to leave the car at the supercharger till a Tesla technician can get over there to manually disconnect the car. They are going to need the key. I'm currently at a friend's apartment so they're going to have to come pick it up from me, or I could meet them at the supercharger.
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Yeah, I doubt it hit the car, but it was definitely close enough to make the air smell like ozone. Like I said, I couldn't find any visible damage elsewhere. As for the power surges, I was told it wasn't possible because the supercharger had multiple safety guards to keep this from happening, and it would have been caught at any one of those. I wasn't the only one charging, and the other car seemed to be just fine.�
May 31, 2015
AudubonB I am glad that you are okay, and I also am glad that you weren't refueling an ICE car with lightning as close as it was. Although one hopes a gasoline station is well-protected by arrestor rods, really direct hits can get through and if so, you wouldn't be writing to us.�
May 31, 2015
lagann BlackVue DR650GW-2CH
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MC4XL2G�
May 31, 2015
mitch672 You're Model S has been hit with ESD from the lightning strike.
My house was nearby a strike last summer: damage $650 NVR LAN port fried (worked around the issue but remote access no longer works), $350 Honeywell 3 zone damper controller fried (replaced), $1100 CISCO 3560G POE used switch just installed weeks before fried (luckily my employeer is CISCO authorized and got it replaced for me with a $500 Smartnet plan), slingbox LAN port fried (never replaced), 8 port $50 gigabit switch fried.
Since this occurance, I now have surge protectection on all of my LAN wiring, before the cables plug into the ethernet switch, this protection has MOV's and gas discharge tubes, and should shunt surges to ground (hopefully). Of course that still would not have helped with the Honeywell controller, that was damaged via induced voltage in thermostat wiring.
point is, ESD is very damaging to electonics, and you don't need to be that close for the induced voltage to damage sensitive electronics... I suspect one or more microprocessors in your Model S will need to be replaced.�
May 31, 2015
Shawn Snider Watched the video (unbelievable camera quality btw! definately buying 1 or 2 of those for my S!), if you watch the time as the lightning strikes, the sound took VERY little time to travel after the flash, i'm gonna guess that it struck somewhere within 100metres or less. Almost instantaneous Flash+Sound!
Epic!�
May 31, 2015
dhanson865 I watched the video 3 times before I saw it around 10 seconds mark.
If flashplayer skips a frame or two you'll miss it so be sure you are on a stable / fast connection.�
May 31, 2015
Xenoilphobe Good thing you were inside the car - I have that same dash cam and love the front one -- the back one is of poor quality though... You definitely got hit by ESD - but not the actual physical bolt -- if you smelled Ozone - you were really close and the flash/bang cycle was completely in sync....�
May 31, 2015
Kandiru Electromagnetic induction can be very powerful, it take one of Uncle's new EMP bonbons to disable an entire city.
Amazing, thanks for sharing.
Inside a car is the safest place in a storm, Faraday cage.�
May 31, 2015
AmpedRealtor There was no time between the lightning flash (flicker in the video) and the crash of thunder. Sound travels at 761 MPH, or just under 13 miles per second. I'd guess the strike was within 1/4 mile.�
May 31, 2015
gg_got_a_tesla Eagerly looking forward to a FUD article somewhere about how one is in more danger of being struck by lightning when in a Model S
Seriously, I guess ESD could cause problems with microprocessors in many modern cars, EVs or not. The only survivors would be the pre-1980s cars?!�
May 31, 2015
Fezzik I wonder how the car would do if it had a direct hit. Wonder if the pack would do anything. I've been struck by lightening before and this is bringing back memories. Turned my legs black for awhile�
May 31, 2015
ecarfan Thanks, I watched it again and saw it. Didn't notice it the first time I viewed the video. The strike mush have pretty close, maybe within a few hundred feet, to have an effect on the car. I doubt it struck the car directly. That would likely have permanently damaged the various CPUs in the car.�
May 31, 2015
tinm Lightning strikes that are very close-by flash and bang almost simultaneously, as the sound does not have to travel very far. I've had that happen to me once, years ago in the Pre-Tesla Era. I was at a red light, waiting for it to go green, and lightning struck right next to my driver's door, right onto the sidewalk at the corner of the intersection. All kinds of grass flew into the air, burnt to a crisp. For a moment everything was brilliant white and bluish and yes, ozone smell.
Here are three frames of the OP's video. Note that the flash happened so fast, the video couldn't quite capture it entirely, but you do get a sense of its brightness by noting the reflections in the windshield.
�
May 31, 2015
exLeaf Do not worry about FUD, my friend 2010 Ford Escape was completely disabled by close-by lightning strike, so many electronic components damaged by magnetic field.�
May 31, 2015
Canuck Yes - and here's a direct hit:
Lightning strike hits moving pickup truck - CTV Edmonton - YouTube
I'm glad you're okay, lagann.�
May 31, 2015
NigelM Likely that the lightning hit one of those trees and your car was connected by the rainwater to the ground, or a pulse went through the SC cabinet, experiencing some sort of ESD or peripheral power surge. This happened near our house about two years ago and the charge carried through the irrigation wires to the watering control box about 250' away; the control box on the side of my barn literally blew to pieces while nothing in the main house was affected.�
May 31, 2015
S4WRXTTCS Great dash cam, but it couldn't record the event.
From the video it looked like it freaked out for a split second, but from the above frame captures it appears like the CMOS Sensor simply couldn't handle the brightness change. You see the split image effect because CMOS Sensors use a rolling shutter (unless they are of the global shutter variety). So when quick events happen you get a sudden change in the middle of the image.�
May 31, 2015
LLWS That's one way to supercharge it. Glad you're okay!�
May 31, 2015
brianman BlackVue DR650GW, as noted in the watermark in the bottom right of the video.�
May 31, 2015
supratachophobia Hey, what was the audio warning? Was that the car telling you something auto pilot. I was unaware there were audible warnings from the car. Could it be the black view talking?�
May 31, 2015
jswanner @lagann mentioned that it was the dashcam that gave the warning in a follow-up post in this thread:
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May 31, 2015
Fezzik All you needed was the flux capacitor then hit up 1955�
May 31, 2015
HankLloydRight Actually, the lightning bolt was required to leave 1955 and get back to 1985.
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May 31, 2015
Aaron Renfroe Just under 13* miles a minute, 12.66.. a minute to be exact. Sound travels 0.211.. miles a second, you forgot to divide by another 60. Which is not that fast if you compare it to light which travels at 186,282 miles a second. There is a trick to see how far away a lightning strike is. Count how many seconds it takes for the thunder to get to you after seeing the flash of lightning and for ever second is about 5 miles. Sorry for my pointless ramble.�
May 31, 2015
AndY1 Speed of sound is 340.29 meters/s, not 5 miles/s, so if it took 0.10 seconds from light to sound of the thunder, that means, that the lightning struck about 34 meters away.
Speed of sound - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
And to all EV owners. Always disconnect your charging cable from your car during the lightning storm.�
May 31, 2015
Cottonwood Exactly, and in Imperial units, it's pretty easy to remember. The speed of light is approximately 1 foot per nanosecond, and the speed of sound is 1 foot per millisecond. This means that the speed of sound is 1,000 feet per second, or about 1 mile per 5 seconds or about 1 km per 3 seconds, while light at 1,000,000 times faster is instantaneous on these time scales.
Going back to the video, the normal North American video frame rate is 30 Hz or 1 frame per 33 ms. If the flash to boom time is within a video frame, the lightening was within 33 feet or 10 meters.
That's close!!!
Inside the car is very safe because the car is a good Faraday Cage Faraday cage - Wikipedia) Even with the Faraday cage, the EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) can damage electronics, especially with the charging cable connected. For this very reason, there are nuclear weapons designed to produce EMP. (Electromagnetic pulse - Wikipedia)�
May 31, 2015
HankLloydRight Another interesting fact. The difference between 1955 and 1985 is the same time as between 1985 and 2015. :scared:�
May 31, 2015
mlindner You don't need to get so defensive.
I should note the visual strike of lightning in the video and the boom are perfectly co-located which basically means the lightning strike was either directly on him or directly adjacent to him.�
May 31, 2015
Terra117 I don't know what a direct hit would be like, but I know what a near-hit would do, at least to an ICE vehicle.
I was driving my M3 over a bridge when lightening hit a piece of construction equipment as I passed it.
The dealer replaced every single circuit board one by one. The last thing their diagnostics found was that the passenger side rear anti-lock brake sensor had completely fused into a single solid piece of metal.�
May 31, 2015
cwerdna Side note: These two Leafers had their house or feed hit while charging at home:
My Nissan Leaf Forum View topic - HELP! Direct Hit with a Lighning Strike Today While Charging
My Nissan Leaf Forum View topic - Lightning Strike saga�
May 31, 2015
mlindner I think you're slightly off. I count 7 frames between initial visual indication of the strike (the lightning actually has two strikes visible) and the first indication of the boom. This would mean the strike was 80 meters away.�
May 31, 2015
dhanson865 Indoors and out?
If I can't charge indoors on my L2 EVSE in a fully enclosed garage I'll never get to charge my car. We have tons of storms here.�
May 31, 2015
Takumi Out of curiousity, did you happen to notice what the Model S charge was before & after the strike?�
May 31, 2015
James Anders Can't help thinking about this...
The Avengers - Clip #5 - Iron Man vs Thor (Face Off) - YouTube�
May 31, 2015
FlasherZ Keep in mind also that the video and audio are multiplexed and which frame the audio starts in relation to the video frame isn't always precise. Audio may be off by a frame or so. Bottom line - it was obviously very close to affect the car and whether it was 10 meters, 80 meters, or somewhere in between, it's way too close for comfort.
A friend of mine experienced a direct strike in a pickup truck in the middle of a highway a couple of years ago; instantly, everything died and stranded him.
(My 1985 Olds Cutlass Ciera had an ECM but if you pulled the fuse it would fall back on some default mechanical settings on the carburetor, etc.; it would run very roughly, but it would run nonetheless. I suspect, though, that a direct lightning strike would weld the points together on even the most mechanical of cars that I have - 1964 1/2 Mustang and 1965 Pontiac GTO.)�
May 31, 2015
MsElectric Glad you are safe! How come the dash cam wasn't affected? Is it because it was "inside" the car or is it shielded from ESD? I wonder what components of the car are protected for ESD.�
May 31, 2015
S4WRXTTCS There is no more normal north american video frame rate. There is the NTSC format, but that's 60Hz Interlaced. So any time calculation would use 1/60 per frame assuming you had access to the interlaced frames.
With Digital Camera's these days the frame rate can be anywhere from 15fps all the way to 120fps. Not only that it can be easily converted to some other frame rate when transferring it from the dash cam to the youtube video.
The best way to figure out the frame rate is to use the time stamp on the video. You just count how many frames per second to give you the frame rate. Once you have that then use the fact that the event happened a little over half way into a frame. So you have pretty good accuracy video wise. The only question is how well video is sync'd. It's probably good enough for our use.�
May 31, 2015
Footbag That dashcam has a 'battery' backup (might be a resistor, end result is the same), it records a few seconds after power is pulled (so that in a crash, it can capture additional footage). That said, since it kept recording for some time, it doesn't appear like the power from the car to the dashcam was cut, or at least not for very long at all.�
May 31, 2015
Atebit Or point it at some one slowly clapping their hands.�
May 31, 2015
Cottonwood You are correct about the multiplicity of frame rates in the digital age, and that the old NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) frame rate is 30 Hz, interlaced at 60 Hz (actually 29.97 and 59.94 Hz).
On the other hand, the YouTube video is 1080p and the vast majority of 1080p digital recorders (in areas where the line frequency is 60 Hz) record at a frame rate of 30 Hz.�
May 31, 2015
AndY1 Both. Lightning can hit your local transformer station and an energy spike can travel down the wires into your car. That's how many of home appliances get fried with indirect lightning strike. Would you like to add your 100.000 USD Tesla to the list?
Illuminating the Dangers of Lightning Strikes - IEEE - The Institute
�
Jun 1, 2015
Phil K So is it worse when the car is supercharging when hit by lightning, directly or very nearby?�
Jun 1, 2015
EVenthusiast IMO, yes. I lost over $10,000 in computer hardware when a nearby strike hit either the cable or phone lines going into my house.
So now whenever there is a thunderstorm in my area, I unplug my vehicle since I'm sure the built-in surge protection on my EVSE won't be enough to handle a direct hit like that.
BUT I'm no electrical engineer, so I would love to hear if OP had really bad luck (or good luck, depending how you look at it), or if the risk increases significantly when connected to any type of charging station.�
Jun 1, 2015
Barry The risk of damage should be less when unplugged. Car bodies are grounded because tires are made of conductive rubber, which is why being in a car during a thunderstorm is a safe place. In theory, the inner workings of the car are within a Faraday cage and (somewhat) protectedfrom an EMP. When plugged in, that opens up a path for current to flow to the inner guts of the car.�
Jun 1, 2015
CHGolferJim I drive a soft top convertible currently. Is it true that this car does not offer the usual lightning storm protections due to the top?�
Jun 1, 2015
caddieo Glad to know the OP is fine. I've lost a house to a lightning strike and so can empathize. Could the OP, at her convenience, give us a late follow-up post as to the actual components that were damaged and the repairs done?�
Jun 1, 2015
kglad99 you (or maybe your car) is famous (or maybe just news-worthy): you're the lead story at TESLARATI.com - Tesla News, Aftermarket Upgrades, Tips, Reviews, Rumors�
Jun 1, 2015
AmpedRealtor Math is not my strong suit, clearly! lol�
Jun 1, 2015
Dutchie Model S hit by lightning while charging
This happened over the weekend. Model S hit by lightning while charging (with video). Conclusion: the car did not like that very much...
Tesla Model S Hit and Disabled by Lightning While Charging - Video - autoevolution�
Jun 1, 2015
ThosEM Now that time travel is enabled, perhaps you could go back and disconnect the car before the strike hits!? [glad you are ok!]�
Jun 1, 2015
ggr Back to front; it's a mile for every 5 seconds.�
Jun 1, 2015
Insane This news has gone Viral and is all over the internet portrayed as a negative news. I please urge logann to remove or disable the video.�
Jun 1, 2015
S4WRXTTCS In this case the video isn't what makes it news worthy. The video contains very little detail.
What makes it news worthy is it's a Tesla at a supercharger. It's interesting to me because it's an EV plugged in. By being plugged in you lose your normal faraday cage type protection, and it opens it up to voltage spikes on any of the IO lines that get connected to the supercharger. There isn't anything about the fact that it's a Tesla, or that it's a supercharger from a technical standpoint.
The best way to handle it is through maximum transparency.
What broke on the car
What broke on the supercharger if anything.
Is The Tesla/Supercharger combo any more susceptible to this than a Nissan leaf/chademo combo?
We probably will never know exactly what happened.
What we do know though is one persons car not only got disabled, but also got stuck to a supercharger when a nearby lighting strike happened.
What that tells me as an owner (awaiting delivery but close enough) is to unplug from a supercharger during an intense lighting storm. Now I probably would have done that anyways. Just like I wouldn't be pumping gas during an active lighting storm. The reasons are entirely different, but it's not something I wish to take a chance on.�
Jun 1, 2015
Insane Lightning Strike Disables Tesla Model S While Supercharging�
Jun 1, 2015
Cyclone We will probably also see more more attention to the emergency charger release lever behind the charge port. That said, I personally, would not touch that lever while connected to the Supercharger. My UMC, sure - since I can unplug it from the wall first. The Supercharger, nope. I'd call and let Tesla disconnect it for me even if they said it would be safe.�
Jun 1, 2015
Barry Regarding the viralness of this story, just think of the devasting consequences when a car gets hit by lightning while gassing up. Kaboom. Nothing left!�
Jun 1, 2015
ggr http://stormhighway.com/safety.php
�
Jun 1, 2015
Dennis87 Richard Hammond struck by lightning in car - Top Gear - BBC - YouTube�
Jun 1, 2015
brianman Nitpicker's corner: Isn't this incorrect because of the behavior of leap year w/r/t the year 2000?�
Jun 1, 2015
Mr X Wow. I think i may know who have been behind it....
but why?�
Jun 1, 2015
brucet999 Does that go for a Roadster or other carbon fiber bodied vehicle?�
Jun 1, 2015
jdo Hokey smokes. I was at this exact same Supercharger during a brief torrential downpour last week (the storms that had caused the flooding in Texas and Oklahoma). Fortunately no lightening, but I do remember asking one of the other drivers afterwards if they knew whether we should be Supercharging during heavy rain.�
Jun 1, 2015
Barry Yes. Carbon fiber is a conductor.�
Jun 1, 2015
K5ING Must have been a very freak occurrence. Tesla's have already been tested for lightening hits.
�
Jun 1, 2015
Cottonwood Not really...according to the Gregorian calendar, 1900 was not a leap year, nor will 2100 be a leap year, but 2000 was a leap year just like the other years divisible by 4 in the spans you ponder. The difference is the phase of the 30 year spans with leap year cycles. 1955 to 1985 had 8 leap years, and 1985 to 2015 had 7 leap years because of where leap years fall relative to the 30-year spans.�
Jun 1, 2015
Fiver This looks more like a (very) nearby strike and surge to the car. I know they factor in surges to superchargers, but lightning is a very unpredictable animal.�
Jun 1, 2015
lagann Quick update:
The Tesla technician manually disconnected the charger and they towed it over to the service center. They pulled the logs and sent them to engineering. They're waiting on engineering before they do anything. The engineers should be able to figure out what happened.�
Jun 1, 2015
HankLloydRight Yes, it is.. in years. I didn't say "exactly, to the hour". Sheesh,�
Jun 1, 2015
mochouinard This is a really bad situation... I had this happening at one of my client office TWICE ! All their computer equipment and phones had to be replaced. They still worked, but all the network card fried (I'm guessing the network wire inside the ceiling acted like an antenna).
Some thing worked ok for a while, but weird issues occurred, so it was decided with the insurance that everything electronic had to be replaced.
So I'll stop here, because every scenario that come to mind is bad... I hope that Tesla will want to keep it for itself and give you another one !
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You should unplug BEFORE an lighting storm, not during
I will think twice before unplugging the car when finished charging in a lighting storm now !�
Jun 1, 2015
lagann I had actually thought about unplugging the car but the storm had come on me so quick that I didn't really have time. I didn't want to get out of my car for exactly this reason. It was crazy because I was thinking about it and then BOOM!�
Jun 1, 2015
cottylowry This happened to our Volt year -- it was parked in our home garage, charging late at night. Lightening struck a tree or power pole near the garage. The surge blew out the fuses in our Voltec Level 2 charger -- amazingly the fuses are hard wired, not replaceable. The inverter in the Volt was also fried. Humm, I cannot remember how we got it out to the dealer, I can't imagine it would run, but just don't remember. Chevy gladly replaced the inverter and Voltec replaced the charger, but didn't pay for the electrician. We try to stay unplugged during lightening storms now.�
Jun 1, 2015
deonb a) The Engineers need logs to figure out what went wrong here??
b) What would the logs be saying??�
Jun 1, 2015
supratachophobia
No.... Your idea is not a good one. Transparency is always best for Tesla. As for OP, that is her call, but it should be made on her merits, not Tesla's.
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Were they able to get you a loaner on short notice?
�
Jun 1, 2015
pgiralt I'm guessing logs will show which components got fried and need to be replaced.�
Jun 1, 2015
lagann I did not post the video to be malicious. Just because some people are reading into it wrong doesn't mean that I should remove it. I'm just posting my experience for other owners. Censorship is bad, ok.
As for the loaner, I needed to get home to Atlanta and they don't give loaners for that distance. Instead, they rented me a car from Enterprise to drive home with. Tomorrow I will get a loaner from my local Tesla service center in Marietta.�
Jun 1, 2015
EarlyAdopter In light of the rising media interest, it's worth keeping two things in perspective:
1. The car next to her at the Supercharger disconnected and drove off fine after the lightning strike.
2. After 2 years and nearly 100 million miles of Supercharging, this is the first case of lightning damage to a Model S we've heard of.�
Jun 1, 2015
S'toon I'm keenly interested to hear what the results will be.�
Jun 1, 2015
supratachophobia I'm glad you posted the video and glad you are keeping it up. This doesn't even seem negative or malicious at all. I think there are many of us who get frustrated when some on the forums want to hide negative things about Tesla thinking it somehow helps them. The request to take this video down was one of them, the torque sleep update problem with the brakes not working properly in reverse (only lasted 48hrs) and the failure of rear facing seat seatbelt were others.
Glad to set you got back down to Atlanta OK. Did you take I75 up? I am making the trip down this weekend and want to know if Louisville to Columbus is a range issue.�
Jun 2, 2015
jdo Do you really mean Louisville, or did you mean Lexington?
I'm not the OP, and this is veering OT, but I just did the Columbus to Cincinnati to Lexington to Louisville leg last week in a 85D and it was kind of a pain. I left Grove City with an 80% charge, stopped to see friends in Cincy, and then had a to scramble to find a charge (ended up going to the Kenwood Mall for HPWC) to be able to get to the SC in Lexington so I could make Louisville.
If you're starting with a 100% charge in an 85, you should be okay, but less than that you may need to make some contingency plans for Cincinnati (at least until the SC there opens up later this month).�
Jun 2, 2015
Nitram Very interesting thread and glad the OP was not hurt.
I've been thinking about this type of event since the first day I own an S and am positively surprised it has only happened once so far.
Does the stall to which the car was connected still work? I would guess it is fried as well. There must be interesting clues as to what happened in the supercharger as well.�
Jun 2, 2015
lagann I had absolutely no problems going from Lexington to Grove City. Just drive the speed limit and you will be fine. The only bad thing is needing to charge for 40 minutes. Just get the trip estimate to 7% or more and it should work out. I almost always end with more than they estimated and that's going 5-10mph over the limit. My one rule was to just not ever go over 75mph.
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Thanks! The Tesla tech support guy said the stall was reporting that it was fine. The lights on it were still lit. They were going to send the supercharging team out to check on it but I don't they would tell me anything. I could call and ask though.�
Jun 2, 2015
CUBldr97 This story has a lot of interest, glad nothing happened to OP physically! Everyone is very interested in the outcome... I know as a EV owner (LEAF) this post and the following conversation really got my attention. Never even occurred to me that even at home being connected or charging during a lightning storm could have potential for a bad day. I have surge protectors of course on everything of value in my home. I assume my home charger has some sort of surge protection, will have to research that!
But last night a very fast storm came rolling through with lots of lightning, so I made sure I was not charging during it...
Sounds like TESLA service is living up to expectations to take care of you until this is resolved! No cost to you on the Enterprise rental correct?�
Jun 2, 2015
CHGolferJim Raises concerns about leaving your car plugged in during summer trips.�
Jun 2, 2015
Cyclone Same concern would apply to your houses HVAC, fridge, washer/dryer, etc. I had a $100 whole-house surge protector installed into my breaker panel. Hopefully I never need it, but if I do, hopefully it sacrifices itself while my electrical equipment in the house are saved from any issues.�
Jun 2, 2015
AmpedRealtor What a ridiculous suggestion.�
Jun 2, 2015
supratachophobia Thanks for echoing my sentiments.
Separate note:
OP, can you post the rear dash cam video as well???�
Jun 2, 2015
green1 I love the negative press... because we all know that an ICE hit by lightning is perfectly safe:
Car explodes into flames after lightning above gas leak in Canberra - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
And the infrastructure required for those gas vehicles is perfectly safe too:
Lightning Bolt Starts Blaze In Fuel Tank In New Jersey - NYTimes.com
Lightning strike ignites vapors in the air, starting fire above gas pumps | News - Home
And I'd hate to think what would happen to a car hit while refuelling...�
Jun 2, 2015
lagann Not really much to see. The rearview camera is no where near as good of quality. Just some flashes in the camera. Even if it was visible I doubt the camera would have been quick enough to see it, but here it is.
Rearview cam for the lightning strike - YouTube�
Jun 2, 2015
CHGolferJim $300 with electrician? What's the brand? Great idea.�
Jun 2, 2015
Cyclone $99 installed by a licensed electrician. This is the specific one they installed is a Eaton CHSPT2MICRO. You can buy it yourself at Home Depot here: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Eaton-Complete-Home-Surge-Protection-CHSPT2MICRO/202800798�
Jun 2, 2015
brianman This was my point. One span has an extra day relative to the other.
Well, "day" not "hour", but who's quibbling.�
Jun 2, 2015
HankLloydRight Well, a "day" is just 24 hours (generally speaking).�
Jun 2, 2015
pmadflyer Yes, this vehicle will not provide protection to the same extent as some other surfaces, however, the body of the vehicle will still provide a more optimal path to ground than the interior materials. Also, depending on the dampness of the surface, the material may provide more conventional protection.�
Jun 2, 2015
mitch672 likely will NOT help. not all Electrostatic Discharge is through power lines. See my post above, my house was hundreds of feet from the lightning strike, and has a "whole house surge supressor" on the main panel. Nothing was damaged via AC wiring, however, the phone/network CAT5 in the house acted as a giant antenna/amplifier, I had over $2,500 in damaged electronics via network wiring... I have since installed LAN wiring protection as well.. and my furnace zone controller was destroyed through the houses thermostat wiring. As you can see, it's difficult and likely impossible to protect everything from a nearby strike.
link to 16 port network wiring protection:
Emerson Network Surge Protector Cat6 16R GD RM Cat6 16POE F | eBay
you put this at the LAN switch, and loop everything through it (each port has an
IN and an OUT), it get's grounded of course as well, that's how it bleeds off overvoltage.�
Jun 3, 2015
Barry I had a strike come into my house via the phone line about 15 years ago. If you want to be protected, every line coming in needs to be protected and they all need to be bonded together to ground with a large conductor with minimal bends.�
Jun 3, 2015
tga To add to what mitch672 said above, I have a Leviton whole house surge protector, but I had a surge come in through my cable TV coax. It took out the cable box and the HDMI port on the TV that the box was connected to.
Luckily, the cable modem and downstream network equipment was fine.�
Jun 3, 2015
Electricfan This is a crazy incident! Awesome that Tesla was so helpful with the situation.�
Jun 3, 2015
scoots Agree completely. Great post! Very helpful to all Tesla owners and potential buyers and anyone interested in EVs and/or storms/lightning! Two thumbs up!
- - - Updated - - -
Agree completely. GM or Ford would have said - your car was damaged by lightning - tough luck - we can help you out for about $10k.
(or am I speaking too soon - is Telsa going to fix it? Or dump it on you and your insurance?)�
Jun 3, 2015
Cyclone Lagann,
Thanks for posting this experience, and please keep us updated. I have great confidence in Tesla service.
In May I drove my 85 from Charleston SC to Phoenix and back. On the way out, I was trying to avoid tornadoes and on the way back, flash floods. Many times I had to charge under ominous clouds in the rain, and I wondered about lightning, which we saw daily. But lightning was less of a risk than the deteriorating weather forecasts we faced in getting through Oklahoma and Texas, going both ways a week apart.
So thank you for filling in some details of what may happen when you make the choice to charge. Often on long trips, it's a lot less optional than the armchair generals suggest.
scoots�
Jun 3, 2015
lagann I guess I should be happy I don't have cable and the only telephone/network cable is up to my DSL Gateway and there to my WiFi Router. So I'd be out maybe $250. That said, I suppose I the HVAC thermostat wiring could be a problem. If the HVAC survived and the thermostat dies, well there is another $80.
That said, I agree with everyone. Nothing is going to stop a determined event. But a few simple precautions gave me great peace of mind.�
Jun 3, 2015
Cyclone Small update, an acquaintance was at the Columbus service yesterday. He said he saw my car hooked up to the 12v battery posts. He said it sounds like they are playing it real safe and slowly making sure everything is OK since this is a first. Also, apparently, I seemed to have also taken out two of the supercharger stalls, 4A and 4B. I was connected to 4A at the time. I doubt I won't hear much of anything until they've done a full investigation into all of it.�
Jun 3, 2015
beeeerock Thanks for the update. I just wanted to say it is more likely that the Supercharger took out your car than your car taking out 4A and 4B. And I honestly hope that there was not actually any surge damage to your car, but actually a side effect. When we plug into Superchargers, we cannot simply yank out the cord. We press the button and the Supercharger and Car cleanly disable the charger and you can then unplug. Maybe the strike killed the Supercharger and the car acted up from suddenly having the charger "yanked" from it.�
Jun 3, 2015
Cyclone When you ponder how lightning damages other stuff on the ground...
- trees explode and burn
- houses have a piece of the roof blow off and sometimes catch fire
- electronics in a house often cook if they so much as hear thunder in the general area
- transformers blow up and neighbourhoods go dark
- an ICE car could burn (apparently)
- a gas station would... hmm, let's not even discuss that!
- a person is typically killed or badly injured...
It's actually quite amazing that the OP's car didn't cook completely or start driving drunkenly around the parking lot like the proverbial headless chicken.
Not to minimize her experience in any way, but I'm actually quite gratified to hear that (so far) the damage appears to be much less than I would have expected... because I would have expected the car to cook almost completely if either the car or supercharger took any part of a lightning strike. I'm sure there will be more examples of this sort of incident in the future, but so far survivability looks good. :biggrin:�
Jun 3, 2015
brianman Overall, it is amazing how well cars can handle lightning strikes. This video might be an amusing view: [video]https://youtu.be/ve6XGKZxYxA[/video]�
Jun 3, 2015
Barry How many points are we giving for this?�
Jun 3, 2015
lagann That's because they are well grounded. Same with bridges, skyscrapers, radio/television towers, etc.�
Jun 3, 2015
brianman There should be a special reputation level for supercharger destroyers/lightning strikes.�
Jun 3, 2015
Chris TX Heh. Nice signature!�
1/1/2015
guest I wonder if the engineers can figure out how many "jiggawatts" were received.
Also, I'm waiting for some online news outlet to say something like, "Tesla Motors Testing New Lightning Charging Systems!"�
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