Cleaner Interior Air & Small-Batch Ideas

Innovation: High-Efficiency Air Cleaners

While this is the sort of thing that is undoubtedly a consideration for ambulance designers and engineers, it probably isn’t something that those who are involved in those practices for school buses, public transport or work trucks: Air filtration.

Air purifier from Webasto for commercial vehicles. (Image: Webasto)

But now there’s COVID.

So Webasto North America has developed two high-efficiency air cleaners—the HFT 300 and the HFT 600—that remove 99.995% of airborne particles that are ≥0.3 microns.

The devices use high-efficiency, commercially available HEPA-14 filters. The filters last from 6 to 12 months. There is a filter monitoring system that uses an LED light alert to indicate when the filter requires changing.

The units are cylindrical and draw in air on one end. The decontaminated air is then released in all directions from the unit. With high-velocity, twin-axial fan motors, the HFT 300 delivers up to 5 cubic meters of purified air per minute or 300 cubic meters per hour, while the HFT 600 can process up to 10 cubic meters of air per minute or 600 cubic meters per hour.

Dirty air in, clean air out. (Image: Webasto)

The air cleaners are designed for easy retrofit into existing vehicles and are compatible with 12- and 24-volt electrical systems.

As Matt Wheeler, head of HVAC Light & Medium Duty for Webasto North America, put it, “Our HEPA-14 air cleaners provide the medical-grade atmospheric filtration that is universally accepted as a key to eliminating pathogens from interior environments,” Wheeler said. “And although they can’t replace appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and social distancing in the fight against the coronavirus and other infectious agents, they can provide a vital means of risk reduction in the battle.”

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Idea: Artisanal Ideas Sought by Mitsubishi in Nashville

If you’ve spent any time in and around Nashville of late, you know that whether it is restaurants or spirits makers, there is a whole small-batch, artisanal approach being taken by an increasing number of people.

Last year Mitsubishi Motors North America (MMNA) announced that it was relocating its headquarters from Cypress, California, to Franklin, Tennessee, which is in the greater Nashville area (and perhaps not coincidentally is where Mitsubishi alliance partner Nissan happens to have its U.S. HQ).

Now that it is part of the community, the folks at MMNA are working to engage its neighbors.

To that end, it is partnering with the Nashville Entrepreneur Center on what is being called “Small Batch- Big Ideas Entrepreneur Network.”

A pitch competition is being run, which is explained on this page.

They’re looking for innovative, Nashville-area-based, small (and scrappy) company that’s been around for a year and providing a product or service. (Being automotive-related isn’t essential—but it doesn’t hurt.)

They will select 10 finalists, which will then go to five winners.

The winners will be able to participate in monthly (virtual) networking events, webinars and access to MMNA executives. Oh, and the top pitching outfit gets a $2,000 prize.

The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross. (Image: MMNA)

In effect, a small group of entrepreneurs are going to have access to ideas and information from a global company for a year. Then there will be another contest, the winner of which will get a loan of a Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross for six months.

If you’re interested (or know someone who is), get on it now because applications close this Sunday, September 20^th, at 11 pm CT.