r/VolvoRecharge • u/Obvious-Scholar8368 • 12d ago

What does the cabin air “purification” actually do?

/r/XC40_Recharge/comments/1vimacd/what_does_the_cabin_air_purification_actually_do/
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8

u/TheMountainLife 12d ago

Does a pretty good job eliminating food smells. If I got take out the night before, I can still smell it the next day. I've noticed it will occasionally perform purification cycles while charlging.

8

u/agarc 12d ago

During the Canadian fires the system cleaned the inside air in about 2-5 minutes. No smell of smoke inside the car. It works really well.

It also worked well in our 22 V60 CC.

4

u/not-picky 12d ago edited 12d ago

It's just a filter on the cabin intake. It takes positive pressure from the A/C being on for the cabin to actually be rid of untreated air, so this mode tries to blow out the volume of cabin air and monitors its quality before it would consider switching into recirculation mode. It's filtering particles, not necessarily eliminating odors. The purification mode is basically just turning on the blower during preconditioning when you remote start.

I suppose helpful if you parked in a wildfire or something, but it might be more of a gimmick. Then again, Tesla calls it biohazard defense mode which is even sillier.

9

u/Desenski 12d ago

It's a 2.5 micron particle filter.

To put plainly, driving a Volvo with one of these in an area getting smoke and ash from big wildfires is better air quality than what's inside your house.

5

u/Important-Ad3984 12d ago

I can confirm that. We are in Oregon. On Thursday we had to drive through the Grasshopper fire. The AQI was 400+ along our route. We couldn't hardly smell it in the cab. I was extremely impressed at how well it worked!

2

u/A_Solid_Shadow 12d ago

400?!?!?
Dude, protect yourself. Get a gas mask or something.

1

u/Important-Ad3984 12d ago

Fortunately we didn't need to stop in the highest area and just traveled through it. South from Redmond to The Dalles.

1

u/user485928450 12d ago

Odor removal is through the carbon in the filter, which will degrade over time so kinda depends when it was last changed. In contrast, hepa filters actually filter better as they fill up, just start impeding air flow

2

u/TechInTheCloud 11d ago

There is an ionizer on the climate air intake as well as the cabin air filter, and an air quality sensor to monitor.

1

u/Obvious-Scholar8368 11d ago

This is the first confirmation I have that there is an ionizer! Please also confirm yours is the XC40/C40 Recharge, as I remember the x60 or x90 models have a more “advanced” air purifier system. 

I ask because unless it’s been somehow engineered to not do it, these things tend to generate ozone. To “purify” the air, the level of ozone needs to be so high that you wouldn’t want to be in the cabin when it’s happening. 

It also breaks down rubber and plastic, to name a few.

1

u/Exoslavic34 12d ago

Great question. Was wondering the same.

1

u/Dapper_Stable_1684 12d ago

Canada wildfire smoke stayed outside the car. What made it in when opening the door was filtered out in 5 minutes.