#HTE

Honda Modifies Van Designs to Prevent Virus Transmission From Passengers to Driver

This month Honda rolled out customized vehicles in Tokyo designed to prevent passengers from transmitting viruses to the driver. Intended for COVID-19 patients who need to be transported, these modified Odyssey and (Japanese-market-only) StepWGN vans have had an airtight aluminum partition added behind the driver’s compartment.

Because air flows into the front of the car through the intake vents, the driver’s compartment is more pressurized than the rear compartment. This is by design, “to prevent air flow from the rear cabin into the driver’s area, [inhibiting] droplet infection by leveraging the pressure difference,” as Honda explains.

Honda is lending the vehicles, free of charge, to a variety of wards in Tokyo. They plan to produce at least 50 of these, according to Yahoo! Japan.

If COVID-19 becomes an ongoing seasonal outbreak, I’d imagine this design change would be very attractive to Uber and Lyft drivers.