Ford develops superheat function to kill COVID-19

Ford has revealed the first details of a new technology it has developed involving the super-heating the cabin of vehicles to kill off any traces of viruses like COVID-19.

Designed specifically for US police forces, Ford's new 'heated software enhancement' heats up the cabin of the Ford Police Interceptor Utility SUV to 56 degrees Celsius for a period of 15 minutes.

The prolonged heat cycle, engineers claim, reduces any trace of 'viral concentration' inside the vehicle by more than 99 per cent.

To produce such amount of heat, the new software update allows the car's engine to run hotter than normal to generate the temperatures needed to superheat the cabin.

While activated, the car's hazard lights will flash to warn it's in operation.

Ford says it has already rolled out the update for testing by police forces in New York, LA, Michigan, Massachusetts, Ohio and Florida.

The update is able to be retrofitted to all Ford Police Interceptor Utility vehicles made since 2016.

Developed in partnership with Ohio State University, it's thought the tech could be rolled out to other Ford vehicles including ambulances, taxis and other vehicles used by multiple drivers as part of shifts.

"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," said Ford's product development boss, Hua Thai-Tang.