With all the "viral bug concerns" why are there for few Hepa car filters?

[Mr Gus]

Whilst there is a plethora of Bio weapon filtration (big cars big filters) there is no HEPA filtration for the TM3 ..wondering why tesla hasn't filled that gap? ..with the wife down from covid, it would be nice to think you've reduced the viral load potential by filtration capture over a journey or two as well as pollen filtration from the fields of rape seed flowers.

I looked on ali express (yup they do no name hepa filters) but as there is never any comeback for any ali express item & thick as dog faeces case handlers as to why your faulty from new item isn't refundable in whole, I am loathe to try one.

Any reputable generic air filter producers around for this 2021 mode 3 ?

[marshman]

Probably because there is no demand. A lot of used cars I have ever looked at and so called fully serviced look as if the pollen filter has never been touched from new. Out of sight out of mind, usually tucked up under the front scuttle or hidden behind the glove box. As a HEPA filter would sit in the same place I would assume it would be given the same treatment, i.e. ignored. . The filters I have changed have been so filthy I would regard them as a health hazard in their own right.

Besides that I am not sure how valid/necessary a HEPA type filter would be on a car driven in the open air - the viral load in the open air would be minimal if any at all - more likely to pick up a lurgy of some description when filling up with juice be it dinosaur or 'lectric by handling the pump/plug handle, and that risk is easily mitigated with a quick wipe down.

[Mr Gus]

Bio weapon defence mode has people jumping (bragging rights)
Hepa, whilst not B/W is very useful as an alternative, school run lurgies, catch all for micropollutants & the ever so common hay fever.

The fact that it isn't exactly available isn't necessarily the reason it wouldn't sell.
(they used to sell cars without seat belts yes)?

A few years back no-one (other than the japanese / korean tourist) would have travelled around europe with a supply of facemasks in their pockets.

Ditto, that none of the vehicles we own/-ed have them either, but for a good while each year we wished we had them.
(And we know that we only get to buy what they see fit to offer us, so no radical departures unless it's like a tesla / ev shake-up making others try a bit harder)

Can you see public transport, with all it's covid drop off in terms of footfall, fitting them to buses & taxi's in the next few years as part of recovery selling technique? ..I hope so.

[marshman]

Each to their own. In the summer we tend to drive with the windows open because we don't have the luxury of aircon. Nothing wrong with a nice drop of "fresh air".

[Mr Gus]

Oh we do have a non air con sweat box too, it does remind me of the 80's, no power steering either.
In terms of fresh air, that's my preference also, but the wind chatter produced that way is off-putting to My wife, who gets very arsey when daughter / myself indulge that way.

But that's not the point, in an increasingly polluted world, isn't this an easy step to make "product" safer?

[marshman]

In answer to your "why is there no HEPA filter for the TM3?" basically because there is not enough room for a proper functioning filter - they are enormous ! Imagine the cost of replacing them at the stated intervals - let alone the waste created - hardly "sustainable" !!

Watch this video - or skip to 1:40 if you are short of time and you will see there size required.



There have them available for the S,Y and X with their so called biodefense mode (or what ever name they gave it).


The smaller "airpurifier" HEPA filter units you see are essentially recirculating filters so you end with little fresh air.

Modern commercial aircraft seem to have the best HEPA filters but then they are long distance transport with a very controlled environment. Public transport? long distance trains aside (few stops and controlled ventilation), how would it work on busses and the tube? how would the system cope with the doors opening and "exposing" the internal space to the outside space and people constantly moving about - it's not just filters it needs a whole controlled ventilation system which to be effective needs to be large and powerful. If they go down that route it will mean even more complicated, expensive material and energy consuming systems, to what end and who pays for it?

[Mr Gus]

Marshman, that is the massive bioweapon filter, NOT a regular hepa.
Hussain activation is a negative pressure set up compared to hepa filtration.
Things why I mentioned them both, ..to avoid confusion which may be brought to the fore by that purposely avoided video

Bioweapon more is like roll of carpet, regular hepa filters are not much bigger than regular filters with the activated carbon et al
We've had Bonaire hepa filters in the home for nigh on18 years, a step up, & likely to prevent a few sneezing fit driving manslaughter cases each year.

[Mr Gus]

OK, back onto HEPA route & OFF the *bio-weapon* track

I searched a few pieces where a guy took some bodgineering readings with a hepa in his subaru at various interior distances.
They claim a loss of around 15% over a regular cabin filter

"I measured a 15% decrease in air flow compared to a 6 month old mostly clean standard air filter. I think it's a given that if you have smaller pores with the same amount of surface area there will be some flow reduction. I've been using my Bosch 6092C for about a year and it hasn't clogged but I plan to change my cabin filter again soon"

"I used one of those wind meters used for hunting, placed in the interior and compared feet per second with each filter in place, at a fixed distance"

source: https://www.subaruoutback.org/threads/h ... er.535416/

Shame there are seemingly no proper Q.A'ed Hepa filters for the tesla, the wife has it on recirculation majority of the time, it may have helped reduce her covid viral load caught at work recently which has kept her nigh on bedridden for 8 solid days now.

& the South African variant is a WHO concern hitting up europe right now (it favours attacking lung tissue again) it's another measure those in the health industry can consider in the effort not infect family & public (changing clothes at work only go's so far)

If this malarkey carries on & mainstream manufacturers don't react soon I may well have to take a gamble on some quite possibly counterfeited, undocumented, substandard sh1te.

However, as pointed out by another poster..

"I'm sure this offers some improvement over the stock filter, but if the fit is anything like most cars I've seen, stuff will still get past it. While the filter meets HEPA specifications, what's often overlooked (e.g., with vacuums) is that's just half the picture - the system providing the filtered air must also be HEPA-rated to ensure that air can't easily bypass the filter. Gotta wonder, if the HEPA filter is noticeably reducing airflow, you might even be getting more unfiltered air leaking past it (although I'd expect the net effect is probably still positive)"

It's a toss up.

[Westie]

Mahle do an upmarket cabin filter range, I've used them on both our cars .

Not HEPA but allegedly better than the usual paper filter.

http://www.caremetix.mahle.com/caremetix/en/caremetix/

[Mr Gus]

Thanks Westie, I'm guessing you mean Miele? (will take a look)

I have found some Mann ones which skirt round the term filter & use the term biologique (or whatever) that I need to read up on, looks like a filter fest, would love some for the Smart 450's