Volvo Cars has introduced what it claims is the first premium air quality technology in cars to clean the air inside vehicle cabins during travel.
Air quality has become a mainstream issue lately due to the massive fires that have engulfed the western part of the United States. This has significantly impacted the air quality in the states of California, Washington, Oregon and even into other neighboring states.
Volvo’s air cleaner technology is equipped with a sensor that measures PM 2.5 levels inside the cabin, something that Volvo said is not currently available in other cars on the market. PM 2.5 is widely used to measure air quality of fine inhalable particles with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers and smaller. The standard is widely adopted in some countries such as China where air quality is a consistent problem. The air quality sensor can compare the air inside the car to the air on the outside letting drivers know when it might be best to exit the vehicle.
The air cleaner technology will be available in Volvo models based on its scalable product architecture such as the V90, XC90 and all 60 series Volvo models.
The technology cleans out fine particulate matter from car cabins using a synthetic fiber-based filter and ionization up to 95% of all PM 2.5 particles. The goal is to limit the adverse health effects associated with air pollution and fine particulates. Volvo said cleaner air also helps to advance safe driving as cleaner air can help boost driver concentration.
