Meyle explains how electric vehicles have greater space for high-performance cabin air filter technology.
Health awareness is on the rise. However, the air in cities and built-up areas is being polluted by ever greater volumes of traffic. Harmful bacteria, pollen, fungi and suspended particles such as aerosols, viruses, particulate matter and nitrogen oxides (NOx) are contaminating the external air and therefore also the air in vehicle cabins. The answer? Innovative filter technologies and greater space for large cabin air filters in electric vehicles.
Meyle PD cabin air filter
With the PD cabin air filter, Meyle have developed a filter that claims to remove smog, exhaust gas, soot, ozone and pollen, but also particulate matter and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Filtered NOx is chemically bound to activated carbon as a salt in the filter material and is not released again even when disposed of. This cabin air filter thus permanently and sustainably reduces NOx in the environment and directly in the cabin. Currently, Meyle is the only manufacturer in the IAM to offer a filter with this property. The range currently comprises 24 filter solutions for electric vehicles and 30 for hybrid vehicles.
Make room
While there was, until now, little space for highly efficient, high-performance cabin air filters due to the limited installation space available in vehicles with a combustion engine, electric vehicles can offer this. The absence of an engine means this installation space is now available, meaning large cabin air filters can be installed. For example, depending on the design and architecture of the installation space, the all-electric Renault ZOE offers space for one, the Mercedes EQE space for five and the Tesla model Y even space for up to six PD cabin air filters. In comparison, conventional vehicles have until now only been able to offer space for a maximum of two cabin air filters.
HEPA filters
The latest and most efficient generation of cabin air filters for cars are what are known as HEPA filters (high-efficiency particulate air filters). Classified in accordance with DIN EN 1822 and ISO 29463, they claim to filter more than 99.9 per cent of all dust particles larger than 0.1-0.3 microns (μm) such as viruses, bacteria, toxic dusts and aerosols out of the air. They are used among other things in the medical field in laboratories, clean rooms and sensitive industrial processes. Their efficiency is clearly illustrated when we consider that, until now, conventional cabin air filtration has essentially focused on capturing pollen, which are approximately 100 times the size of suspended particles. The HEPA filters’ efficiency is due to the fibres being finer and denser. This increases pressure loss on the one hand, but this is offset on the other by the filter medium being folded even more tightly and by the greater surface area. Therefore, the filter class has achieved sets new standards in the filtration of air in electric vehicle cabins.
Meyle has been systematically expediting the mobility transition in the IAM as a developer, manufacturer, and supplier of holistic solutions since 2016. It offers its customers spare parts and solutions for electric vehicles in the independent aftermarket under the name Meyle eSolutions. As a further development of the PD filter, the manufacturer is now developing its own highly efficient and powerful HEPA filter. The new filter will be available as early as this year and will expand the range.
