As the world thinks about how we will live after the COVID-19 pandemic, Jaguar Land Rover has taken a step to adapt future vehicles to the “new normal.” Coming Land Rovers will use Panasonic nanoe-X technology to filter cabin air, removing particles as small as the coronavirus.
The current optional filtration system on JLR vehicles is the original Panasonic nanoe technology, which has a PM2.5 filter. This filters out particles as small as 2.5 microns. While this was generally enough filtration for those concerned in the pre-COVID era, it is not tight enough for the 0.7-micron coronavirus particle.
Panasonic developed nanoe X in 2016, a continuation of their nanoe technology developed in the early 2000s. The technology creates highly reactive components called hydroxyl radicals, which react with the hydrogen in viruses, bacteria, and odor compounds, altering them and returning them to the air as water particles. The nanoe X version generates ten times as many hydroxyl radicals as the original nanoe, allowing it to filter out far more, and smaller, particles.
JLR performed two tests with the nanoe X tech to make sure that it was suitable for the “new normal” where customers are highly concerned about one particulate in particular. First, they ran tests to make sure the system worked to inhibit viruses and bacteria in a sealed vehicle running the HVAC on recirculation mode for a half hour. It passed, inhibiting as much as 97% of the viral matter. Then it was tested specifically with SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, for two hours. 99.9995% of the coronavirus particles were blocked.
While nanoe X is great for filtering out viruses, it also has the benefit of filtering out a number of allergens, a perk for any Land Rover buyer who lives on Claritin and Zyrtec. The current nanoe technology available in JLR products already serves this purpose for many allergens, as well as other air contaminants.
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