Volvo's Advanced Air Cleaner Technology Brings Healthy Air Inside the Cabin

Nearly a century ago, Volvo was created as a subsidiary of SKF, a bearing and seal manufacturing company from Gothenburg, Sweden.

The name Volvo (which basically means 'I roll' in Latin) was initially destined for a special series of ball bearing manufactured for the American market but ended up being used as the trademark for the Swedish manufacturer’s automobiles.

The first car they produced was the OV 4, which left the assembly line on 14 April 1927. Since then, Volvo cars have managed to set new standards in terms of luxury, comfort, and safety.

The latest innovation promises to revolutionize the industry once again, by providing a cutting-edge air quality system that will allow owners to breathe clean and healthy air inside their new Volvos.

Engineers have developed the Advanced Air Cleaner technology in order to counter the effects of poor air quality by placing a sensor that measures PM 2.5 levels inside the cabin, a revolutionary feature that is currently not available in any other car on the market.

PM 2.5 is a widely used measure for air quality that indicates the amount of fine particulate matter in the air. On a global scale, many urban environments suffer from PM 2.5 values that exceed recommended levels by the World Health Organization.

One country in particular has had problems with poor air quality for decades and is making huge efforts to manage and reduce the PM 2.5 values in their cities.

China, home to the Geely Holding Group, Volvo Cars’ parent company, has a well-established network of PM 2.5 measurement and information services as it heavily focuses on minimizing pollution, so this was the perfect place to develop this new technology.

The Advanced Air Cleaner technology will be available starting 2021 on all 90 and 60 series based on the Scalable Product Architecture (SPA).

Volvo states that due to the use of synthetic fiber-based filters and ionization, more than 90% of all PM 2.5 particles are kept out of the cabin.

This will optimize the air quality inside the vehicle, minimizing potentially adverse health issues that are associated with air pollution.

Owners of Volvos that feature this technology will be able to use the Volvo On Call smartphone app to schedule an extra cleaning cycle of the cabin air ahead of a journey. The app also provides information about the actual PM2.5 levels inside the cabin before and after cleaning.

The Swedish car manufacturer also focuses on creating a healthier environment inside the cabin in other ways. Their engineers have a long history of removing emissions from organic substances in the car and reducing the amount of allergy-causing materials from their interiors.

Moreover, Volvo cars have a strict sourcing policy for its suppliers in order to control and reduce the generation and emission of odors from parts and materials used inside the cabin.

The company also works with a variety of institutes and universities on innovative projects related to material use and the development and implementation of allergy-free environments inside its cars.

A special team of odor assessors, internally known as The Noses, rigorously tests individual components as well as complete cars for odor emissions.

Volvo has announced that it will only produce electric cars from 2040 so not only will their future cars provide clean air inside the cabin, but they will also contribute to the global improvement of air quality.