Aboutcleggsan Expertise All technical areas of Electronics Engineering.
Experience BSEE, MBA, Design, R&D, University Research.
Senior Life Member of IEEE. Life Fellow of AES.
Organizations IEEE, Consumer Electronics Society, Audio Engineering Society.
Broad teaching experience; work experience mostly in consumer electronics and conversion from analog to digital technologies. Pioneer in digital audio at all levels.
Question Can a lightning strike on or near an automobile cause the battery to discharge? After a recent lightning storm my mother's battery was completely dead and she had had no trouble before hand. Once the battery was charged again it seemed to work fine. Is this a possibility or is mom starting to lose it?
Answer I wish you would have given me the make and model and year of the car.
There are some cars that when jolted with a lighting strike will turn on some of the devices or apparatus in the car. So, yes, under some conditions with some cars it could discharge the battery - but not instantly. It would take some time to drain it out. For example if the headlights came on with the lightning pulse the battery could be drained low enough that the car would not start in a couple of hours. But, the lights would be on.
I can't think of any circumstances that would cause the battery to discharge in a very short period of time.
