Assuming a strong enough EMP of course :)

Virtually all modern vehicles, be they cars, planes, trains, busses etc are computer controlled and those computer controls will fry and disable the vehicle.

A sufficient spike or induced current can fry energy storage systems, especially low current ones. High current ones would not be as vulnerable. A cell phone battery may short for instance, but an Edison battery would not even notice.

Tesla coil....induced current could give you a powerful spike from it but unlikely to damage it.

Bottom line, the lower the normal current use, the more vulnerable an item is. ICs would be especially so, making computers very vulnerable.

As XenokRoy said, a Faraday Cage can offer protection, but not always.

EMP functions from an induction principle, whether something is battery powered or grid-tied matters not. Electronics work in the range of milliwatts, EMP would be discharging megawatts of power.

True, batteries would continue to work since they work off from a chemical reaction that generates current, but some may have electronic components that could be damaged.

In general, the only electronics that would survive an EMP blast would be those with shielding around them designed to inhibit induction.

EMP is a very strong electromagnetic field.

Essentially all wires are antennas, which convert electric fields into voltage. Various geometries do this better/worse. Coaxial cables are self-sheilding, and very poor antennas. Long wires with large loop area from end to end, are very good.

An EMP makes such a strong field, small innocuous wires become voltage sources that damage the electronics they are connected to. Cell phones, computers, other low-voltage electronics are very susceptible. More rugged equipment, like transformers, generators and alternators are less susceptible because they have better insulation; however, they can generate very high voltages from the coils inside.

The field from an EMP (or any other point EM source) disperses with distance, roughly by the area of the sphere at that distance (E = k/r^2).

Solar cells have a large electrical connection area, and are low voltage. They would surely be destroyed.

It is less relevant that the equipment in question is grid connected or not. Batteries them selves may be destroyed depending on the construction. A cylindrically rolled battery is sort of self-shielding. A plate battery will develop some real voltage.

I'd have to think about a Tesla coil, and refresh the construction of them, but given the voltages they develop, they would probably be fine, particularly if they were no operating.

Mechanical diesel engines are the most resistant. Modern electronic infection and gasoline spark ignition engines are susceptible.

It is not that complicated to figure out the susceptibility. There are just a few rules governing what happens.

If you look online you can find information about high intensity electric field generators using a "Marks Device" (which is cool on its own, as are the spark gap triggers used). These simulate a lower intensity EMP, and are used for various purposes, including killing communications and stopping vehicles.

In addition, some military equipment is designed to provide EMP attenuation (e.g. a building or enclosure), and there are HEMP limits that define the success of these enclosures (Milw-Std-188-125): https://www.wbdg.org/ccb/FEDMIL/std18....
Also check out: http://empengineering.com/

Obviously the answer depends on how close you are to the EMP event. The reason power girds are so susceptible is that have these long lines that act like huge antenna.

I think most cars would survive - again depending on the distance from the EMP event. In Pendulum of Justice Hank creates an EMP event to disable a car and there are such devices out there, but it takes a lot of focused EM energy. Present EMP disabling devices use high focused microwaves. Tech is certainly right that electronics are more vulnerable, but if they are not connected to the electrical grid then they do not have the problem of a huge electrical spike. However, they are much more vulnerable to gamma rays and other high frequency radiation. The answer is actually quite complicated.

There is a post on EMP and solar power in the Gulch. Unfortunately, Robbie was involved and it deteriorated into non-sense because he did not understand basic antenna design issues.

Tesla coil - yes it would act like a large antenna.

The 'Carrington Event' of 1859 and the CME of 1989 in Quebec provide excellent direct observations of so called Solar Flare events and their effects. The Carrington occurred at a time of Telegraph systems and gas lights. The telegraph wiring actually sagged in places while sparks were thrown at insulators and operators were even shocked. The 89 Quebec event knocked out significant portions of the power systems and grid of Quebec.

Nuclear bombs can produce enough ionization, particularly at altitude to produce an EMP. It's thought by many that at least the US during the 50's and 60's did some testing of this during the heavy testing blasts of that period .

There does exist devices from large to hand held (you can even find plans and circuits for such devices on the web) that can be built by the home hobbiest that can be fairly destructive within several feet. We'll stay away from some of the work done on high power radio and microwave devices or some of the more exotic projection devices development.

Congress set up an EMP Commission and study groups that have released a number of reports (available from the web--not to be passing you off, but you are an author and would probably appreciate a more thorough detail than what you can get here) addressing the issue since 2001 and held public hearings in 2015.

Faraday cages work if constructed properly of the right materials and properly and sufficiently grounded (think lightning rod wiring to the ground). A metal storage shed or garage sitting on a wood or concrete base isn't going to help a lot. A typical automobile of today doesn't have enough metal in it's body and is insulated from ground on it's tires. Typical large industrial buildings with numerous motors and power distribution will have a grid of large(2/0 up to 250MCM and larger--the size of your thumb up to your wrist), bare copper conductors installed beneath any foundation work, connected (many welded with thermite) to all the metal and motor frames throughout the facility. Additional grounding rods of 5/8" to 1" driven 20 or so feet into the earth or even grounding wells (3 or more grouped (3 or 4ft separation) rods with copper sulfate poured into the 'well' to soak out into the surrounding soil) are often used to obtain or ensure sufficient ground conductivity. One is looking for 5-ohms or less resistance throughout the grounding grid for a large distance of separation.

As others have stated, the primary danger is to transformers in the power grid tertiary distribution system (the pole mount and local community types you see flashing during a tornado--(there are hundreds of thousands throughout the US system) primarily from internal overcurrent as well as capacitance and induction in the power lines and wiring, and end user control and communication devices that are not shielded. Even devices in a Faraday cage, if connected to an external circuit or device (antenna, solar panel, etc) would be effected. The damage is to the circuit board circuits, and any IC (chips, etc) and batteries dependent on type, from overcurrent/overvoltage. they would melt or even blow apart. Overcurrent produces enough heat to melt and overvoltage breaks down insulation or jumps (sparks) to adjacent devices/circuits--both can occur almost instantaneously. A typical circuit breaker in a power distribution system reacts (opens and interrupts the plasma arc) in less than 1/3 of 1 cycle in a 60 hz AC system. Lead/Acid are probably safe, particularly if unconnected but I wouldn't count on a Li or even a standard AAA type.

As you can see, this can be a very lengthy discussion. Most of the fiction I've seen written about these types of events are just that, fiction without much real world connection. Passenger planes aren't likely to fall from the sky, for example--they are struck by lightening (St. Elmos fire, lightening balls, and bolts) all the time as well as build up and discharge large static charges from movement through the air. Those electronics are insulated from the metal skin of the plane as well as hardened to the dangers they already face. It's the ground based systems they communicate with that are more in danger.

Hope that helps a little or at least points you in the right direction.

EMP is outside my area, but I have worked on EMC immunity testing. In my work, the concern is that an electromagnetic field from something like a motor turning on will cause a signal in a wire to be interpreted wrong, causing the device to operate wrong or need to be reset.

There is a specific part of the EN 55000 tests that I think applies to effects of EMP: "Conducted Disturbances" http://www.dlsemc.com/emc-testing/eu/...

You might get somewhere by calling test houses (like DLS EMC or Intertek) and asking their business development people if they test to "standards related to EMP-hardening."

"I understand that an EMP would essentially overload electrical systems and render those systems and anything attached to them useless. I also understand that devices reliant on battery power that is not attached to a power source that is connected to an electrical grid, those batteries would still function until they ran out of power. True?"
I think so because the wires of the electrical system would act as huge antennas. A battery would fine, certainly if it were in a small device and probably even if it were connected to long wires.

"If a car is moving when an EMP occurred, would it continue to drive until the battery ran out or would the alternator be fried and the car would slow to a stop?"
I think the weakest link would be its electronics. I suspect its alternator and battery would be robust against EMP. I suspect the metal cage around the engine would offer some protection, so a car might be fine after a moderately strong EMP event that destroys everything electronic that was plugged into an outlet at the time. A very strong EMP event would break something in the car's electronics, causing it to stop running cold.

"Are the power storage batteries in solar systems instantly effected?"
My guess is it would fry the charging electronics but not damage the battery, even if it were connected and being charged at the time.

"Would a fully functional large scale Tesla coil be impacted by an EMP burst?"
I think the Tesla coil would be fine. I'm really out of my area with this one, but I suspect it would be unaffected.

I agree with most of what Technocracy and some of what XenokRoy said. XenokRoy talks about wires being fried and things being safer if not being used. I think his friend is wrong on that point. My understanding is the wires act as antennas. The wires themselves won't be damaged at all. The device (e.g. solar collector) being off may not protect it b/c it's the wires that pick up the EMP. The key is not to have long wires in any form connected to the equipment. If somehow enough current flows to blow a fuse or fry a wire, something else is broken in the system. The wires won't fry. Even if you took long stretches of 30 gauge wire going off in opposite directions and connected together with a 300 ohm resistor in an EMP event, just trying to pick up EMP on purpose, it would not damage the wire or resistor. I don't know much about EMP, but I'm fairly confident on this point.

All my answers are based on my imagining normal EMC immunity testing but a few orders of magnitude worse. I don't really know if this is a good model for EMP.

From my understanding, an EMP would fry any electrical system that is operating at the time the emp hits, unless it's in a Faraday Cage or some type.

So a car moving would loose all power, this would mean that power steering would no longer function and some people would be unable to respond to the extra force needed to turn, and likely crash as the car would continue to move as per Neuton's laws of motion.

Solar power, if generating power at the time would fry the solar panel and battery system. If on the other hand it was shut down and in storage for use after an EMP hit, there would be no problem.

Tesla Coil, I am not certain on, but I would suspect the same.

EMP basically causes any electrical current that is present to spike, frying the electrical system. If no electricity is present at the time of the EMP spike or it is protected its OK.

Another example that may be helpful is a pre-computer timeline car would still have its wires fried, but if you had an extra set of electric wires for the car, you could replace them. the car battery would be fine, and with no computer to get fried the rest of the car, truck or tractor would work if the wiring were replaced. A buddy of mine has an old 72 diesel truck as a bug out vehicle and he has two extra sets of wiring for it, just in case of EMP. Ya, he is a crazy prepper, but sometimes I wonder if he is right.

Edit: Actually the battery on the solar system would be fine, just the panel and any wiring would be shot.

There are three basic types of components in circuits: inductors, resistors, and capacitors. All can be damaged by simply exceeding their voltage or amperage limits - and that is very easy to do for very small components like those typically found in microcircuitry. You can burn out a resistor by pushing too much current through it and instigating thermal breakdown. You can burn out a capacitor by pushing too much voltage so that the charge jumps the gaps and fuses the component. You can overload certain types of inductors with too much voltage so that they burn through their insulative materials and create gaps through which random discharges can pass. Not to mention diodes and transistors which are generally only rated for certain voltage levels.

If an EMP goes off, any electronics in the near vicinity are going to burn out due to inducted current. Your only defenses are distance (Thoritsu posted a great equation) and shielding via a Faraday cage. Keep in mind, however, that for a cage to work, the device must be completely surrounded and the gaps in the cage can't be any larger than the longest wavelength you want to allow through the cage, ie if you use the hexagonal chicken wire, it will protect you from signals down to about 2.2 cm, while if you use screen door material you're down to about 1 mm.

Now a question was brought up about batteries. Batteries are a maybe. If they are completely disconnected from everything and the terminals are capped, you can prevent arcing and they should be okay - especially heavy-duty ones like car batteries. But if the battery is hooked up to something, you can force an overload via discharge - or reverse charge - due to excessive current if the battery isn't fused. Again, car batteries and the like are built to handle a large current (amperage), but not a high voltage (only 13-14 V tops), so if there is anything hooked up to them, you may be able to generate enough induced current to damage the storage cells.

seems like you've had plenty of details here, so I will add only relevant info. EMP, generated by a nuclear or thermonuclear explosion in the outer atmosphere, will produce megawatts of power, but given the distance from the target, will result in moderate electric fields. These fields will interact with the Earth's magnetic field, so the same nuke at the same altitude will have different results depending on the latitude. More importantly, the size of the wire (acting as an antenna) that is hit is the multiplier. Thus, power lines, although they can withstand significant voltages and current flows, due to their length collect a very strong current from the pulse. As to electronic devices, no one really knows which devices will be damaged and which will not - mostly dependent on where exactly they are located and oriented. If the voltage is induced but there is no path to ground, the device will not be damaged. It is pretty much the same crap shoot with cars. Probably, most will be fine after a restart. Diesels cars and especially trucks are very resistant to induced energy, even with electronics. It may stop the engine, but a restart will be fine. Unprotected computers are very likely to be damaged, especially if powered, but probably even if not powered. Any communications system without protection, is a gonner - radios, wi-fi, radars, etc. The damage, entering through the antenna port, is likely to wipe out not only the front end, but the entire system. Hope it helps, at this late hour.

This one seems to be a good science based discussion of EMP and the difference between Solar and Nuke:
http://www.futurescience.com/emp/emp-...

This one seems a bit short on theory but might be useful:
http://www.patriotheadquarters.com/2-...

Heres one that does a good analysis of a book scenario, and what is wrong, with it and options:

http://www.endtimesreport.com/EMP.html

How to build a Faraday Cage:

http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/bui...

Wikipedia is always a good start:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electro...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear...

I think a lot of misconceptions exist regarding just what happens when you have an EMP pulse go through. The point of the Faraday Cage is to isolate what is in it by defelcting and reflecting the energy wave that expands outwards from the dsource. The danage is always a result of the amount of the wave energy that is converted by the recption area. In the case of the grid, all the wires all over the US act as giant antennas, absorb the energy, and that results in the wire itself conducting back to the various devices (switches and transformers) which do what they always do, the switches overload with the current level, and the transformers will act like an RC circuit. The transformer becomes a giant inductor and generates a large burst of current, causing more damage.

Hope this helps.

Heres my full range of knowledge regarding EMP - 1 : It will be worse in the city than in the woods.<br>2: My old Harley will still run.<br>3: I keep several handheld walkies, a small 12V CB and an all band crank radio inside an old microwave in the pole barn.<br>4: Me and mine will be fine. ( degüello for any one that attempts to screw with my plan simply because they didnt make one.)

Dear Allen with those questions being asked the feds should be at your front door in no time. OR you are the fed trying to get promoted by setting people up. That is what the FBI did to John DeLorean and the court =said it was entrapment. What are you REALLY up to?

I have had a talk with my Brother-in-law about EPMs. I'm a HAM radio operator and have had some concerns about Little Kim in North Korea. My brother-in-law has his degree in electrical engineering. Also, he spent 23 years in the USAF running radar installations, including trouble shooting and repairing. He says the systems they used were in double shielded Faraday cages with a spark gap between the cages to dissipate the power. Also, all connections in and out had very robust band pass filters to shunt out the pulse. According to him, if you have anything that can act as an antenna (think wire, battery plates of all types, IC circuits, metal plates, etc.) it can be subject to an EMP depending on how close to the EMP source and shielding. Since all modern cars are run by computers, there is a good chance that they will have voltage overloads in the brain box, which will fry the circuits and immediately kill the car. Even old cars are subject to having their ballast capacitors shorted out due to voltage overload.
He also suggests that everything have an earth ground since many items will maintain a capacitive charge after the event unless the charge is shunted to ground.
In the USSR their military did not switch to ICs and stayed with vacuum tubes for a lot longer than the US partly due to the belief that vacuum tubes are more EMP resistant.

It would fry any unprotected semi conductor based electronics. That includes your solar panels.
I read on some guberment site that the military has tested the problem of an emp, and have concluded most electronics will likely survive. The computers in cars are shielded to some extent. There would be failures, but not to the extent of Hollywood movies. The best thing you can do is makes sure your homes electrical system is properly grounded and has a whole house surge protector. Battery operated is no guarantee. In fact they could be more susceptible because they aren't grounded.

I've been told my 7.3 diesel (because it has an electronic control module) would be fried by an EMP. But ONLY if operating at the time.

I seems to me that if an EMP can fry NON operating circuits, there's enough destructive energy to fry ME!!

In short, does the circuity have to be ON when the EMP hits to be destroyed or......???

My understanding is that the more modern the electronics the more susceptible to EMP they are. Basically a new car would be worthless but say something like a 1960's car would likely hiccup and keep on keeping on. Something running on transistors might or might not be ok, integrated circuits fried, things electrical without electronics basically ok.