EV Concept Could Clean the Air While Driving

­Most of the governments and automakers around the globe are trying to go carbon-neutral by the middle of this century, and some have even more audacious plans, like BMW’s goal to have half its sales electric by 2030. But few are aiming to be a net-positive for the environment.

A student team based at the Eindhoven University of Technology could change that with a passenger EV concept that actually cleans the air while driving. Forget not adding CO2 emissions – this tech subtracts.

How the heck does it do that? Apparently, the collegiate team took a cue from air cleaning tech usually designed for large installations and applied it to EVs.

According to The Next Web, a technology called direct air capture (CAP) “traps” carbon dioxide into a filter, allowing clean air to flow out of the vehicle. In turn, this compensates for the total emissions of all life phases, and presumably leaves the air quality in better shape than it was at the start.

And apparently, even a saturated filter is no problem for Zem (or zero emission mobility).

“While Zem is charging you can remove the filter and place it in a special tank inside the pole. Cleaning the filter takes about the same time as charging,” said Louise de Laat, Industrial Design student and team manager of the Zem project.

“At the same time, the CO2 absorbed and saved in the tank can be repurposed and used by industries that need it, to make carbon fibers, for instance,” she said.

And just to keep the total emissions low from cradle to grave, even the manufacturing process is mindful of wasteful materials.

Since the team 3D-printed parts of the interior -- including the car seat shell, the dashboards, the middle console, the steering wheel, and the roof beams – they didn’t print excess parts, and the items were printed using granulates called circular plastics that can be shredded and reused afresh in other projects.

All of that hopefully adds up to a net positive for the environment.

“What we really want to do now is build a climate positive car by 2030,” said Stijn Plekkenpol, a student who’s working on the next concept vehicle.  

“This means, a vehicle which is marketable, which could be produced, and actually have a positive impact on the environment instead of any negative ones.”