Lightning strike on house during charging

[shelbycobra]

HI all. House was hit by lightning last night while my 2023 GT was charging. Got an alert on my phone there was an issue. Electrician this morning confirmed GrizzlE charger is OK but the car will not charge. The charger blinks red. Tried two other chargers in town and the car will not charge. Any chance there is a simple reset on the car or did some charging electronics in the vehicle fry. This is not my biggest concern at the moment, but I only have 194 miles til "empty". Any thoughts?

Sponsored

 

[geeklifer]

Have you reset the breaker or unplugged the charger from the wall? Whenever my wall charger blinks red it means it needs to be reset this way. I usually get this after nearby electrical storms.

If you are talking about the lights on the car by the charging port, then...ick....

Edit: I missed your comment about trying other area chargers. Maybe try the reset by removing the negative 12v terminal for 10 min, then reconnecting.

 

[moog]

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/risks-when-charging-during-a-lightning-storm.5739/

 

[Mach1E]

Edit: I missed your comment about trying other area chargers. Maybe try the reset by removing the negative 12v terminal for 10 min, then reconnecting.

I was thinking the same.

If that doesn’t work, schedule an appointment with your dealership to diagnose BEFORE the car runs out of charge.


One note- this isn’t a warranty claim, this would be an INSURANCE claim. No different than if you get into an accident.

Your Ford warranty doesn’t cover lightning strikes.

 

[Brent@ANParts]

New charging fear unlocked! We get crazy lightning storms out here in AZ, never once thought about the car getting zapped.

 

[MachhE-CT]

Lighting strikes can damage a lot. I don’t take a chance with the Mach E. If there are chances of lighting it gets unplugged before I hit the hay for the night. An ounce of prevention is worth a lot more 20000 worth of batteries

 

[ChasingCoral]

Lighting strikes can damage a lot. I don’t take a chance with the Mach E. If there are chances of lighting it gets unplugged before I hit the hay for the night. An ounce of prevention is worth a lot more 20000 worth of batteries

I've known people who won't take a shower during a thunderstorm and knew one who wouldn't even sit on the toilet.

If you're one of those folks, don't charge in the thunderstorm either.

 

[SonicBlue]

Car is effed. Hopefully not too seriously, but agree this is likely going to be an insurance claim. The good news is it would be a comprehensive claim so hopefully won’t raise your rates too much. Take it the dealer, get it diagnosed, notify insurer. And get this all done before you run the thing empty.

 

[dmc23]

I was advised by the electrician who ran the circuit for my charger to get a whole home surge suppressor installed for exactly this scenario. The suppressor should blow before the car is hit.

 

[N1naz]

I was advised by the electrician who ran the circuit for my charger to get a whole home surge suppressor installed for exactly this scenario. The suppressor should blow before the car is hit.

Did the whole house surge protector for a lot of reasons, including 2 EV's charging here. It’s code in a lot of areas. Also, recently a Mach-e (not ours) was at my local dealership service dept. and was getting diagnosed because it was hit by lightning (not charging) just in a parking lot. However, this will kill most cars now a days.

 

[Del1731]

Have you reset the breaker or unplugged the charger from the wall? Whenever my wall charger blinks red it means it needs to be reset this way. I usually get this after nearby electrical storms.

If you are talking about the lights on the car by the charging port, then...ick....

Edit: I missed your comment about trying other area chargers. Maybe try the reset by removing the negative 12v terminal for 10 min, then reconnecting.

I live in uk and in fire service. went to a lightning strike on a house it chased all electric cables out of plaster work blew the tv up and fried the owner in the electric shower. ? its possible it has done some frying. take it to dealer to run a diagnostic be on safe side

 

[Flint302]

When Lightning is near I always (OK mostly) flip the charger CB on the house panel and unplug the car. I lost one charger from a close strike already.

 

[Adventureboy]

Maybe try the reset by removing the negative 12v terminal for 10 min, then reconnecting.

^^^^ Try this first. There is a chance a full onboard charger reset may solve it. If not, the dealer may have to do a full inspection of all of the modules in the MME to make sure everything else is ok as well.

 

[GT-Papa]

Other than it won't charge, Is the car reporting any faults?

 

[Keytone]

If you're one of those folks, don't charge in the thunderstorm either.

This won't help you after the fact, but for others you may do what I've done for our property in the interior.

I've installed a Leviton 60amp Smart breaker with routines tied to Home Assistant and the house's Tempest weather station. An automation is written for upon detection of lighting within 20km, the breaker will open. It will not close again until 2 hours after the last nearby lighting strike.

https://leviton.com/products/lb260-gst

Sponsored