American auto maker Ford Motor is conducting tests of a new computer program in police cars that can raise the cabin temperature to 133 degrees Fahrenheit enough to destroy the emerging corona virus (Covid19-).
Automotive News, a website specialized in automotive topics, indicated that the program, which is available in police cars in the United States, Canada and other countries, is a "Police Interpreter Utility" model and was produced from 2013 to 2019, where the program uses the car engine and air conditioning systems to raise the temperature The cabin for 15 minutes with the aim of eliminating any new presence of the Corona virus in the car.
Ford collaborated with researchers from the University of Ohio to develop and test the system in police cars in New York, California, Michigan, Massachusetts, Ohio and Florida.
"Our study with Ford indicates that exposure of the corona virus to a temperature of 56 degrees Celsius or 132.8 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes eliminates more than 99 percent of the viruses present on," said Jeff Janice and Jesse Quick, head of laboratories at the Department of Microbiology at Ohio State University in a statement. Interior surfaces and metals used in Police Interceptor Utility cars.
Automotive News indicated that the new program is among the first examples of experiments conducted by car manufacturers on ways to maintain car disinfection and sterilization in the era of the Covid virus. 19-
For its part, CEO Jim Ford Hackett said in press statements that the company is exploring the possibility of using antimicrobial materials in preparing its cars in the future.
Ford is focusing on the current use of these technologies with cars used by law enforcement and the best-selling Explorer crossover.
