Ford develops COVID-fighting software for Ford Police Interceptor vehicles to help cops stay safe on the beat

While a lot of us are able to stay home and limit our interactions with others to stay safe during the COVID-19 epidemic, there’s a lot of folks for whom that just isn’t an option, including first responders like police. With suspects being loaded in and out of Ford Interceptor Utility SUVs — the police version of the Ford Explorer — all day, every day, there was a real risk that a cop’s four-wheeled partner could become a breeding ground for the deadly disease.

Now, through a software update, Ford engineers have found a way to help police officers sterilize the interior of their Ford-built police vehicles with no parts or hardware installation required. It’s a technology that could soon make its way to Ford cars, trucks and SUVs made for the civilian market.

Scientists know that viruses like COVID-19 are very vulnerable to heat. That’s the thinking behind the software update, available for all Ford Police Interceptor vehicles built since 2013. Once installed, the update utilizes the vehicle’s heater system to raise the temperature inside the vehicle beyond 133 degree Fahrenheit — hotter than the highest temperature ever recorded in Death Valley — for 15 minutes, then automatically cools the interior back down again through the cruiser’s air conditioning system.

Developed in a partnership between Ford and Ohio State University, the system effectively sanitizes the interior of the vehicle. Performed while there’s no one in the vehicle, the new virus-fighting heating process isn’t hot enough to harm plastics, fabric or internal systems, but is warm enough to kill most viruses, including COVID-19, which cannot survive extended high temperatures.

“First responders are on the front lines protecting all of us. They are exposed to the virus and are in dire need of protective measures,” said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford chief product development and purchasing officer. “We looked at what’s in our arsenal and how we could step up to help. In this case, we’ve turned the vehicle’s powertrain and heat control systems into a virus neutralizer.”

Once started, the self-cleaning process flashes the vehicle’s hazard lights and tail lights in a pre-set pattern to let officers know the system is heating up the interior of the vehicle. The lights flash again when decontamination and an interior-cool-down via the air conditioning system is completed. Researchers say that by filling the passenger compartment with superheated air, the process can reach hidden pockets of viruses that might be missed by chemical disinfectants or soaps. The automated process also helps reduce the possibility of human error while disinfecting.

Ford studies of the new technology, which were performed in cooperation with large metropolitan police departments across the country, including the LAPD and NYPD, show that the system can reduce viral concentrations inside a treated car by more than 99 percent, drastically reducing the risk to officers.

Innovation and quick thinking to solve problems like this for our nation’s first responders is one more reason why we’re proud to sell quality Ford vehicles at McLarty Daniel Ford of Bentonville. Share our pride. Come check our our big selection of the latest Ford vehicles, or visit our website online.

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