Experts were quick to shut down Tesla’s “Bioweapon Defense Mode”, but the electric car company put its cool-named air filter to the test and here are the results.
Tesla said the gizmo has been evaluated in real-world conditions and environments from Californian freeways during rush hour, smelly marshes, landfills, and cow pastures, to major cities in China, in order to ensure that the filter captured fine particulate matter, gaseous pollutants, as well as bacteria, viruses, pollen and mold spores.
Moreover, Tesla even took it up a notch and conducted tests in a large bubble contaminated with extreme levels of pollution – 83 times over EPA’s good” air quality index limit of 12 µg/m3.
Two minutes after closing the falcon-doors, the HEPA filtration system reduced the hazardous 1,000 µg/m3 polluted air to undetectable levels, allowing the technicians to remove their gas masks and breathe fresh air inside the car.
Not only that, but the system began vacuuming the air outside the car as well, reducing PM2.5’s levels by 40%. The conclusion, says Tesla, is that the Bioweapon Defense Mode isn’t just a marketing gimmick, but a real survival equipment that can protect the car’s occupants from a military-grade bio attack.
And the story doesn’t end here, as the electric car firm will continue to further develop the filters, improving their micro-geometry and chemical passivization defenses.
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