Accident of automobile due to lightning

Many kinds of electronic equipment have been used in recent automobiles. Eco-friendly automobiles such as electric, fuel-cell and hybrid vehicles have spread rapidly. Those automobiles are usually sensitive to electromagnetic disturbance caused by lightning and so on. Therefore, the authors have proposed the necessity of the establishment of lightning protection methodologies for automobiles so far. Right in the middle of our research of lightning protection for automobiles, we have heard the fire accident of an automobile in Kanto district in Japan. Right after hearing the news, we have interviewed the fire fighters about their field survey; we also have investigated the scene of the accident and burned automobile ourselves. In this paper, the results of the interview and investigation have been discussed.