Auto Trends

Technology is growing in leaps and bounds these days. While many consumers are happy to have a vehicle that keeps track of the ambient air temperature (automatic climate control), Nissan is poised to take that type of luxury to the next level.

Many cars air-conditioning systems still function via a knob. You drive along and manually adjust the air temperature inside the cabin of the vehicle by adjusting the amount of warm or cool air allowed through the ventilation system. This is considered to be comparable to getting out of your chair to change the channel on your television set, or even using the word “television” for that matter.

One step up from this type of caveman technology, is the automatic climate system. This allows the driver and passenger to dial-in a particular air temperature, and the vehicle will then attempt to hold that temperature by automatically adjusting its cold and heat cycles accordingly.

Improvements Over Standard Air-Conditioning

Nissan thinks that it can offer its buyers something much better that automatic climate control in their new Forest AC air-conditioning system. The Forest AC is an improvement in a variety of ways. First, it not only automatically controls the temperature inside the cabin, but also the humidity.

Humidity is a big comfort factor, and the new Nissan system will regulate it in order to keep the cabin from becoming excessively dry from the conditioned air. It will do this by keeping the vehicle somewhere between 35 to 55 percent humidity depending on conditions. Second, the system will function off of what could be considered a smart filter.

Ultra Filter and Sterilizing Filters

Not only does the new Nissan smart filter system have an ultra-fine filter (great for pollens and other allergens), it also monitors the outside ventilation to determine exactly how much filtering is necessary. If you have a smoke billowing diesel truck in front of you during bumper to bumper traffic, the system will automatically adjust to keep the driver and passengers from being intoxicated by the fumes.

The next part of its design will be to eliminate odors through a combination of ion sterilization and aromatherapy. The Forest AC will produce what Nissan is calling, “plasmacluster ions”, which kill bacteria as well as remove unpleasant odors. In addition, the air can then be treated with a hint of fragrance (aromatherapy).

Aromatherapy and Natural Breezes

The aroma used will be a combination of many natural fragrances, such as Kapur, the wood essence of a tropical rain-forest; lavender, which is believed to produce both focus and calmness, and finally, leaf alcohol, believed to reduce both fatigue and irritation. All of these are designed to offer the driver improved safety and a maximum comfort level during their commute.

In addition, the entire cabin will be monitored for slight temperature changes, such as where the angle of the sunlight is entering the vehicle, etc. The system will then attempt to compensate for these slight variations, by producing different amounts of breeze through the vents. These are called “natural breezes” and will ensure each vehicle occupant is nestled within the most perfect air-conditioning digitized society is capable of.

Of course all of this will also give the driver several more items in which will need to be maintained on a regular schedule. In other words, along with the oil, tire pressure, and windshield washer fluid, the ultra-fine filter and aromatherapy cartridges will now need to be kept track of. To what extent, expense, or cost is unknown at this time.

Forest AC to be Introduced in the New Nissan Fuga

This system will debut with the Nissan Fuga, which is also said to also have a computerized traction control system that will determine the appropriate speed the driver should be traveling (by pushing up on the gas pedal) in order to safely execute a turn. This is all accomplished via eternal GPS coordinates preset in the vehicle.

It’s happening folks, whether you think it a good or bad idea, our ability to function our own vehicle is slowly being taken away, one task at a time. Computer aided/piloted vehicles is almost an inevitability at this point!

Source: nissan-global