AIRO, the electric car that cleans the air as it drives

An electric car has the feature that it emits no polluting gases, which makes it very appealing for driving in the city. But what would happen if a car that could run without emitting those gases and could also neutralise the ones emitted by other vehicles became popular? This could become a reality thanks to the AIRO, a vehicle that was presented at the last Shanghai Motor Show and has now arrived in Europe to demonstrate its capabilities.

What has been achieved with the AIRO is an electric prototype equipped with a HEPA filter installed under the floor of the car. This filter collects the particles emitted by other vehicles and stores them so they can be removed. This model does not have a large capacity, but over the course of a year it could be capable of removing from the air a volume of polluting particles equivalent to a tennis ball.

A clean car that removes pollution

On its own, this model would not make a very large difference to the current situation, but if it became popular it could be very interesting. If several electric vehicles were equipped with this filter system, the level of polluting particles could be considerably reduced in spaces as heavily loaded as Chinese cities. And although this model has been designed by Heatherwick Studio, it is intended for the Asian market.

The industrial design studio is known for its work designing buildings, such as several Google offices and even the cauldron for the 2012 London Olympic Games. Now it has applied its knowledge to this electric car, which not only has zero emissions but negative ones, removing pollution from the atmosphere.

This technology is already applied in the Hyundai Nexo, since this HEPA filter is used to purify the air that feeds the fuel cell. In that case, it is limited to that small quantity of air and was not designed to clean the air in general.

A “homely” interior

The car has been conceived to be an extension of the home. The interior resembles a living room, with four seats that can face each other and a folding table in the centre. Obviously, the car is designed for autonomous driving and is a prototype. If it moves into production, the interior is expected to adopt a more conventional design.

Even so, as a prototype it is quite curious and, beyond the artificial comfort it offers, the filter system deserves attention for helping to remove the pollution that exists in cities. Its use could greatly change the condition of cities and help make them more sustainable.