Kia Motors and Hyundai to Release Tech for Better Car Cabin Air Quality
Necessity is the mother of invention. It’s an English-language proverb, but it rings true, and more so now than ever. In a post-pandemic world, whenever that will be, businesses everywhere are looking for new ways to thrive in a broken economy, and every industry is looking for ways to help healthcare officials. The Hyundai Motor Group, the umbrella automotive group that houses Kia Motors, has developed a new technology to help keep the air quality in the cabin of vehicles cleaner. This sounds very familiar, probably because many automakers are starting to look into ways to improve their vehicles for handling the pandemic, aside from social distancing which is difficult inside the cabin of most vehicles.
There are three bits of technology to take a look at. “After-Blow”, “Multi-Air Mode”, and “Fine Dust Indicator”. Each is made to improve the air and overall quality of the cabin. With viruses becoming airborne, keeping the air quality in private and enclosed spaces high is a huge concern. Hopefully mode car models will adopt this new technology while we keep chugging along.
After-Blow Technology
This technology is aimed at controlling mold growth. Honestly, never heard of a car getting mold, but where there’s moisture, there’s a chance for mold, and that means keeping the air-conditioning system clean. Ever smell a foul odor during the summer months? That could mean the A/C is getting a little funky. After-Blow activates after the engine turns off the evaporator of the A/C systems drains. After-Blow keeps the evaporator dry whilst the A/C allows for an influx of outside air to prevent humidity build up, an even worse condition for avoiding mold. If worried about this system draining battery life while the car is turned off, don’t worry – Hyundai built in a fail safe that deactivates the system if the battery is getting a little low.
Multi-Air Mode Technology
Now that is a nice one. Ever get an oscillating fan that can mimic nature’s winds to give a relaxing gust every now and then? Same idea here. In an effort to create a more pleasant indoor environment with gentle wind, Multi-Air Mode uses multiple vents from the A/C to blow air through the newly added multi-air slots in the driver and passenger seats in conjunction with the normal air vents. The overall airflow may not feel different, but it is dispersing the air for a more overall effect then being blasted in one direction. However, the driver can turn this off for those hot days when a blast of cold air is in high demand.
Fine Dust indicator Technology
This one is all about measuring air quality inside the vehicle and then lets the driver know so that they can manage the air quality manually. Although the average driver may not understand the concentration and pollution level of ultrafine particles (PM 2.5), the system is also color coordinated with blue, green, orange, and red. If the air quality hits orange, the air-cleaning mode of this tech will turn on automatically to purify the air and get it back down before continuing to circulate air. If the air does not improve, the system will then notify the driver to replace the A/C filters and clean the cabin asap.
Well that’s all pretty interesting. How practical it is we’ll soon see. What do you think? Is it a little much or is this the kind of technology we need? Join the discussion on Miami Lakes Kia social media .
Photo Source/Copyright: Kia Media
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