Elon Musk Credits Google Co-founder Larry Page For Tesla's HEPA Filter Idea

Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk said that Larry Page, the co-founder of Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG, GOOGL Google, alerted him about the significance of air filtration. This led to the development of Tesla’s hospital-grade HEPA air filters.

What Happened: While the filter media area in the HEPA filter in Tesla Model S and Tesla Model X is 3.52 square meter, those of standard automotive filters is 0.7 meter square, Tesla explained via a bar graph on Friday. Musk noted it as a 'big difference' and said, "Credit to Larry Page for alerting me to the importance of air filtration."

Both Tesla Model S and Model X have hospital-grade HEPA air filters, Musk said on Thursday, while adding that they protect the user from dust, bacteria, pollen, spores and many toxic gases. The CEO's tweet came hours after reports of smoke from Canadian wildfire enveloping parts of U.S. including Washington, New York, and Philadelphia.

Though Model 3 and Y also have ‘great’ air filtration, “they're too small to fit the monster HEPA filters,” the CEO said.

Last year, Tesla shared a 1- minute demo video of the HEPA filter which shows the air inside a Tesla remaining largely clear while a standard filter inside a non-Tesla vehicle fails to clear the air. The filter removes over 99.97% of any airborne particles, Tesla said.

HEPA air filter in Model Y, S and X removes >99.97% of dust, pollen, mold, bacteria and any airborne particles pic.twitter.com/I8yCOCPbN2

— Tesla (@Tesla) June 5, 2022

Responding to a user who re-shared the video on Thursday, Musk said, “We put a lot of effort into this.”

Why It Matters: According to Tesla, air pollution kills twice the number of people every year as accidents. But with the HEPA filter, the driver will have the “best possible cabin air quality no matter what is happening in the environment around them.”

The filter is hundreds of times more efficient than standard automotive filters, Tesla said in a blog, while adding that it was tested in California freeways during rush hour, and across major cities in China. 

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