Threats of lightning current through an electric vehicle

An electric vehicle includes more electronic parts than a gasoline-powered vehicle. Not only control but also driving circuits of the electric vehicle are electrical at variance with those of the gasoline-powered vehicle. Thus, there is higher possibility of malfunctions on the electric vehicle due to electromagnetic disturbances caused by a lightning stroke. It is important to establish lightning protection methodologies for the electric vehicle. For this, it is essential to make clear the mechanism of the lightning current flowing through the vehicle body and other parts and to clarify transient magnetic fields and current distributions in the electric vehicle. In this paper, the transient magnetic fields and the current distributions in the electric vehicle are simulated using the FDTD method, and the probability of lightning damages is discussed.