Tesla has unveiled its latest Prototype Ventilator which is made from Model 3 parts.
US Electric car company Tesla has been showing off its working prototype of a ventilator this week.
The company, who published a youtube video over the weekend, and says its latest device can track the O2 intake and CO2 outtake from a patient, and display that information on a Model 3 infotainment touchscreen.
The video seems to show Tesla CEO Elon Musk making good on a promise to use Tesla resources to “make ventilators if there is a shortage” to help overtaxed hospitals during the coronavirus outbreak.
Vice president of vehicle engineering Lars Moravy explains in the video that Tesla is trying to make some ventilators out of some car parts, so that we can help out the medical industry without taking away from their supply” and that the company wanted to use parts already on hand because they know the reliability of them and ramp up production volumes.
The next step for the machine will be to pass through the US Food and Drug Administration for testing and approval process and there is no word yet on the volumes Tesla believe it is capable of producing.
Other car companies, like General Motors and Ford, have also taken up the task of building their own ventilators for US hospitals. Here in the UK Vacuum maker, Dyson released its own design as well.
Tesla cynics should be aware that while the prototype is a long way from being rolled out, that Musk has already sourced around 1,255 ventilators from Chinese manufacturers through Tesla and donated them to hospitals in Los Angeles. Though, critics have been quick to point out that Musk supplied non-invasive BPAP and CPAP machines which can be used for patients with milder ailments like sleep apnea but not the invasive ventilators required to help COVID patients.
