I did some research.
This is an interesting article about the 'bioweapon defense mode' with in depth opinions from experts (Michael J. Buchmeier, deputy director of the Pacific Southwest Regional Center for Biodefense and Emerging Diseases at the University of California, Irvine and Colonel Randall Larsen, retired U.S. Air Force and now the director of the Institute for Homeland Security), and they conclude that it wont do any good in a bioweapon attack situation. First argument is that you have to know if an attack has happened. At the time that people start to get the symptoms its too late, and further more, the Hepa standard that it is claimed to meet, is effective against bacteria and pollen but not against a lot of viruses that can be used in bioweapon scenario's.
So as an anallergic device and against smelly odors the filter is useful but thats where its use and effectiveness apparently ends
https://gizmodo.com/bioweapon-expert...owe-1733909293
Also the effectiveness Musk claims (99.97% of 0.3 micrometer particles from the air) is the HEPA ASTM D2986 spec. Bosch has had filters in that spec for ages for a number of cars like I already wrote about
:
https://www.boschautoparts.com/en/au...-cabin-filters
These filters have the same filter capability spec as Musk claims, but are available for certain mercedes cars, Subaru's Lexus, or even your honda Civic or toyota Yaris. So nothing special, just ordinairy cars where you can have the same filtration spec against pollen, odors and other allergenic particles by means of a drop in replacement.
But without Musk's marketing flair (or cost); maybe thats why it attracts a certain kind of buyer.
Then there is of course the claim that its 100 times better. The filtration degree is already debunked above, now about the filter capacity.
This article goes into depth about comparing the Tesla filter against a test on an ordinairy Mazda interior filter by a clean air afficionada:
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/tesla-mazda/
And the results are quite astonishing:
Yes the tesla's filter is better. But is it 100 times better as claimed? Absolutely not.
What the tesla filter does in 1 minute, a stock filter does in about 2 minutes according to the measurements. Thats what it comes down to.
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/tesla-mazda/
Also ordinairy interior filters are also available in versions with a carbon interweve mainly to filter out odors (based on sulphur based chemical gasses or ammonia based chemical gasses). This is actually standard on most interior filters, just like the tesla filter has. Most people who do their own maintenance on cars know this because it usually says so right on the filter (I guess thats the benefit of 'hands on experience
).
So Musk creates a hype with false information and claims. I'm sure its a very good interior filter and in some aspects better than normal interior cabin filters but apparantly it needs lies to sell it. You need a salesman like Musk to do that, and you'll attract a large crowd of a certain kind of people that are jumping to spend. He is truely a marketing genious that knows how to attract people that do have the money but dont have the brains to decipher what he says.
As for the costs its not quite clear. Those Bosch ASTM D2986 spec. Hepa filters go for about 19 bucks on amazon.
The things I can find on the cost of the Tesla filter range from 200 bucks to a magnitude of that:
