Air cleaning systems that is part of a car’s air-conditioning unit is not new. But most, if not all, works quietly in the background with the vehicle occupants not knowing how the in-cabin air quality has improved. Hyundai’s newly developed ‘Smart Air Purification system’ is different is this sense, with a monitoring feature displayed on the car’s audio-video navigation screen. The air quality is displayed in real-time using a 16-bar digital display. This is categorised according to Korea Environmental Corporation Standards, which classifies four levels of air quality based on the presence of fine particulate matter: Excellent, Good, Fair and Poor.
The system works constantly to monitor the air and turns the purification feature on automatically when conditions turn to ‘Fair’ and works to improve it to ‘Excellent’. Hyundai claims that the system can bring the in-cabin quality to ‘Excellent’ almost instantaneously even if the exterior is at ‘Poor’ level.
The Smart Air Purification system by Hyundai uses advanced filtering innovations which can remove fine particulates before passengers enter the car. It also comes with a charcoal-based deodorisation function and can automatically close the car’s windows to assist the cleaning process.
Instead of using typical sensors which may not be durable as fine particulates can gradually build up on the measurement lens, the Hyundai method uses an integrated laser-based sensor.
This new development is now under consideration for future Hyundai and Kia vehicles, and makes a lot of sense particularly for urban dwellers where the quality of air may not always be satisfactory.
