Photo: Tesla
As the Canadian wildfires rage on, the North-Eastern part of the US is covered in thick smoke that makes the air unbreathable. Tesla owners used their cars' efficient air filtration systems with hospital-grade HEPA filters and Bioweapon Defense Mode to protect them from smoke.
Tesla EVs have many gadgets and functions that sound cool when you want to show them to your friends, but you rarely or never use them. Many, such as the fart sounds or the light show, are pure gimmicks with no purpose other than being fun. Elon Musk is a geek with an acute sense of humor, so many such functions have at least names that sound more serious than they are. We guess Autopilot and Full Self-Driving were named precisely for this reason, although people take them very seriously these days.
One of those gimmicky features is the Bioweapon Defense Mode that launched on the Model S and Model X in 2016. When it launched, Tesla claimed it could protect even in a "military-grade bio attack" by keeping the harmful gases and particles outside the cabin. The Bioweapon Defense Mode relies on a very efficient air filtration system that uses a High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter, capable of capturing 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 micrometers in diameter. A secondary filtration system with activated carbon filters removes odors, gases, bacteria, viruses, pollen, and mold spores.
Besides these HEPA filters, Bioweapon Defense Mode also has a positive-pressure cabin, making it impossible for the outside air to enter. All Tesla EVs except for the Model 3 are now equipped with the Bioweapon Defense Mode, although not everybody knows that. Even Elon Musk lost count of which features come to which cars, as he showed in a recent tweet claiming that only Model S and Model X feature a Bioweapon Defense Mode.
Musk's tweet was quickly slapped with a community note reminding him that the Model Y also got the Bioweapon Defense Mode in 2021. The Tesla CEO later said that the Model Y does have a HEPA filter, but it's not as big as the one in the Model S and Model X due to space constraints. Even without the Bioweapon Defense Mode and the monster HEPA filters, the Model 3 still has a state-of-the-art filtration system, better than most cars on the road today.
Although it started as a geeky feature, the Bioweapon Defense Mode was appreciated by Tesla owners in polluted areas, especially in China. In fact, the Model Y got the Bioweapon Defense Mode because the Chinese customers requested it, and it was later introduced in the US. In the US and Europe, where the air is much cleaner, most people don't need the hospital-grade filtration system.
Still, many found it a godsend these days as the air around New York has become unbreathable due to the wildfire smoke coming from Canada. Some admitted using the feature for the first time, while others appreciated the Tesla air filtration systems every time the pollution levels skyrocketed in their area. What do you think about the Bioweapon Defense Mode?
One of those gimmicky features is the Bioweapon Defense Mode that launched on the Model S and Model X in 2016. When it launched, Tesla claimed it could protect even in a "military-grade bio attack" by keeping the harmful gases and particles outside the cabin. The Bioweapon Defense Mode relies on a very efficient air filtration system that uses a High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter, capable of capturing 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 micrometers in diameter. A secondary filtration system with activated carbon filters removes odors, gases, bacteria, viruses, pollen, and mold spores.
Besides these HEPA filters, Bioweapon Defense Mode also has a positive-pressure cabin, making it impossible for the outside air to enter. All Tesla EVs except for the Model 3 are now equipped with the Bioweapon Defense Mode, although not everybody knows that. Even Elon Musk lost count of which features come to which cars, as he showed in a recent tweet claiming that only Model S and Model X feature a Bioweapon Defense Mode.
Musk's tweet was quickly slapped with a community note reminding him that the Model Y also got the Bioweapon Defense Mode in 2021. The Tesla CEO later said that the Model Y does have a HEPA filter, but it's not as big as the one in the Model S and Model X due to space constraints. Even without the Bioweapon Defense Mode and the monster HEPA filters, the Model 3 still has a state-of-the-art filtration system, better than most cars on the road today.
Although it started as a geeky feature, the Bioweapon Defense Mode was appreciated by Tesla owners in polluted areas, especially in China. In fact, the Model Y got the Bioweapon Defense Mode because the Chinese customers requested it, and it was later introduced in the US. In the US and Europe, where the air is much cleaner, most people don't need the hospital-grade filtration system.
Still, many found it a godsend these days as the air around New York has become unbreathable due to the wildfire smoke coming from Canada. Some admitted using the feature for the first time, while others appreciated the Tesla air filtration systems every time the pollution levels skyrocketed in their area. What do you think about the Bioweapon Defense Mode?
Model 3 & Y have great air filtration too, but they’re too small to fit the monster HEPA filters
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 8, 2023
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