Air pollution has a significant and pervasive impact on public health. According to the World Health Organization, it is now considered “the world’s largest single environmental health risk,” with more than 3 million people dying every year as a result. This is more than twice the number of people that die in vehicle accidents each year.
Electric car automaker, Telsa has developed a HEPA filtration system that is capable of stripping the outside air that contains pollen, bacteria, and pollution before they enter the cabin and systematically scrubbing the air inside the cabin to eliminate any trace of these particles. The end result is a filtration system hundreds of times more efficient than standard automotive filters, capable of providing the driver and passengers with the best possible cabin air quality no matter what is happening in the environment around them.
The air filtration system was put to the test in real-world environments from California freeways during rush hour, to smelly marshes, landfills, and cow pastures in the central valley of California, to major cities in China. Tesla wanted to ensure that it captured fine particulate matter and gaseous pollutants, as well as bacteria, viruses, pollen and mold spores.
The company then decided to take things a step further and test the complete system as they would on the road, but in an environment where they could precisely control and carefully monitor atmospheric conditions. A Model X was placed in a large bubble contaminated with extreme levels of pollution (1,000 µg/m3 of PM2.5 vs. the EPA’s “good” air quality index limit of 12 µg/m3). They then closed the falcon doors and activated the so-called Bioweapon Defense Mode.
In less than two minutes, the HEPA filtration system had scrubbed the air in Model X, bringing pollution levels from an extremely dangerous 1,000 µg/m3 to levels so low as to be undetectable (below the noise floor) by their instruments, allowing them to remove their gas masks and breathe fresh air while sitting inside a bubble of pollution.
Not only did the vehicle system completely scrub the cabin air, but in the ensuing minutes, it began to vacuum the air outside the car as well, reducing PM2.5 levels by 40%.
In conclusion, the company says that the Bioweapon Defense Mode isn’t just a marketing gimmick and you can literally survive a military grade bio attack by sitting in their cars. If fact, it will also clean the air outside your car, making things better for those around you.
