[WARNING] EMI detected in 2010 Prius

Now you need to measure other cars. How does your Prius compare to, say, a Corvette without the steel body?

 

Bob, can you give an "executive summary" of your conclusion in the first post: did you detect a significant Electric Magnetic Field, more than other cars, enough to cause concern?

 

Well, that explains why my magnetic compass shows deviations due to motor and change activity!

 

Here is the Executive Summary I noticed:

He found that the EMI of the car was 1/10 the natural EMI of the Earth's magnetic field, (the graph would look almost the same if he walked his loop) and that the extra EMI was at the limit of his ability to detect it. (any instrument is unreliable at the limit of it's range)

He did not test other cars, but will if you bring them and pay him.

 

Damn.

My company has been forcing me to drive a G3 for 6 years and 115,000 miles now.

I was going to get some oily lawyer to sue them and retire early.

Now I suppose I'll have to keep working.....

 

A longer summary of EMI in the Prius, EMI is a change in electric field. (batteries are DC so do not change very rapidly. (your HV battery takes 20 minutes to run down to the point your engine starts) Bob drives a loop so as he turns around, so he sees a change in the earth's electric field.

AC, however often changes 50 to 60 times a second. EMI can be a real issue with strong AC currents. My favorite radio station claims to be the 100,000 watt blowtorch of the Delta. I would be very sympathetic to folks who felt EMI living next to the antenna. You will hear folks concerned about their cellphone, I could understand fears of living near the cell phone tower.

In most cars, the two largest AC sources are the Alternator (under the hood, beyond the firewall) and the heater fan. In the threads on PriusChat, the largest source of EMI they found was near the heater.

The Prius has several large electric motors, but again they are under the hood, beyond the firewall, so do not effect the passenger cabin. It looks like the heater fan is also well shielded as it was not showing in the field measurements. The most active part of the passenger cabin was the passenger side rear where the cooling fan for the battery is. It was better shielded than the 'normal' car's heater fan, but was above the background noise.

Faraday cage - Wikipedia

 

Some people sleep on magnets because they claim relief from quite a variety of ailments. Life here is well adapted to stable magnetic fields. It's the varying fields that are suspect. Cell phone / microwaves are particularly suspect because of medical problems that have been reported.

Just because something doesn't kill masses of people within weeks of exposure doesn't prove it's safe. Look at how long it took to identify smoking as damaging. And which aspect of smoke does the damage? There are hundreds (thousands?) of components of smoke.

I think we need to be looking at frequency, waveform, duration, and any other ways that we can characterize EMF. The worry with earth level stable magnetic fields is that they are weakening, not getting too strong.

I like data. I just don't like global conclusions based on inadequate data.

 

well, we just made marijuana legal, so that should add to emphysema, lung and other cancers nicely.

 

Two interesting reference points for noise would be:

(1) noise plot recorded with the instrument stationary in the measurement field, on the ground or a nonmetallic stool, with no car nearby;
(2) signal plot while carrying the instrument on your person while walking around the course, with no car nearby. If this would take too long, then even walking a just short straight line portion of the course would still be useful.

 

RobH, before I believed these folks were truly affected by the EMI in their car, I would want to hear about their lack of household electricity, how no Power Lines are near their house, No nearby Antennas, etc.

If these much larger EMI fields do not exist near them, then indeed their car may be the most active electrical fields they encounter. (Mind you their feeling of EMI pollution may still be by larger fields where ever they drive to.) Household and Powerline fields will be a 24/7/365 experience for most of us, while most of us are in our cars just to and from work.

I am not discounting EMI as a source of discomfort, I only question the idea that an intermittent source 1/10 as powerful as the North Pole is the item causing their issue.

I fear that the more we explain this issue, the more discomfort we cause. Bob has the idea that their best course of action is to walk away from their perceived sources, for fear of learning the real sources of EMI in their life. I am not sure he is wrong.

.(Should you google the subject, you will find their is little information from sources not trying to sell you something)

 

Brownie Mary would be happy that marijuana can now be legally accessed by those in need. See Brownie Mary - Wikipedia

Even when it was totally illegal, enforcement was difficult for prosecutors who couldn't find a jury that would convict her.

Marijuana doesn't have to be burned to be consumed. Brownies work just fine.

While I approve of marijuana being legally available, it still isn't healthy to consume it. In simple terms, it rots the brain. Recreational use of it isn't going to be good for society. It is perhaps the best available treatment for the pain of AIDs and cancer, but not for boredom.

 

I have two answers for people concerned about EMF and the Prius.

For people who are just generally worried about the technology in the Prius, the answer is that the Prius does not appear to have any different EMF characteristics than other modern cars.

For people who have a health problem that they worry might be aggravated by the Prius, the answer is that we really don't have good data to call it one way or the other. The problem may be EMF, off gassing of the upholstery, shape of the seat, or any myriad of other causes. Changing to another car is an available way of testing the source of a problem. If changing to another car alleviates the problem, you have an effective response. The technical description of the exact cause is still elusive, but you've got a personal solution.

 

Do people who worry about Prius EMIs also worry about the microwaves to/from their phone, or Russian satellites, or *sarcasm* smartwatches...?

 

So people are concerned with EMI but not with eating processed foods like McDonald's?