Ford turning police cars into 133-degree ovens to bake coronavirus into submission
Ford engineers and Ohio State University have come up with a clever way to bake away the threat of COVID-19.
Coronavirus, meet the end of the line.
The Centers for Disease Control has a helpful list of approved disinfectants to kill the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19. But Ford engineers sought another layer of protection, and the answer turned up in a relatively simple idea: use heat.
Ford's Explorer police vehicles are literally cranking up the heat to kill the coronavirus using a new software designed to bake the interior until there's almost a 0% chance of the virus remaining on surfaces. On Wednesday, the automaker explained this new trick, which it developed and researched with Ohio State University.
Studies showed exposing the virus to temperatures of 133 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes reduced viral concentration by 99%, so the minds inside Ford decided to turn the Explorer PPV into a virus-killing oven with the engine and climate control systems working as a team. With the new software, the police car elevates the engine's running temperature and the heat and vents operate on full blast. It's enough to pour temperatures above 133 degrees into the cabin.
The software runs its cycle for 15 minutes, as the studies recommended, to disinfect touch points inside the vehicle. The novel solution is meant to give police officers another tool to keep themselves safe when dealing with the public amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it's not meant to replace physically disinfecting a patrol car. Combined, an Explorer PPV should be squeaky clean.
Officers can monitor the entire progress via hazard and taillight patterns that flash in a specific way to indicate the baking has begun. When it's done, the lights will flash in a separate pattern, and of course there's a cool-down period. After all, 133 degrees is hotter than Death Valley.
After recently trialing the software with a handful of police departments across the country, including the New York Police Department, Ford's ready to offer the solution immediately for any 2013-2019 Explorer PPV in the US.
