Countries across the globe are facing unprecedented shortages of healthcare supplies needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, and companies that have been unable to operate in their normal form of business have instead turned to see if they can assist those in need.
Here’s what some of the big names in the automotive industry have been doing to help:
Ford has teamed up with GE Healthcare to produce 1,500 ventilators by the end of this month, and 12,000 by the end of May. Additionally, Ford are set to make 50,000 ventilators in 100 days beginning on April 20 at a plant in Michigan.
Ford engineers are also collaborating with 3M to design a streamlined powered air purifying respirator (PAPR) to help safeguard doctors, nurses, and first responders. Reportedly, Ford’s PAPRs look like something out of a movie; a spacesuit-like helmet with a battery-operated blower unit that draws air through a protective filter and pushes scrubbed, cooled air through a hose and into the helmet. It’s useful in any situation that people face toxic airborne contamination, including in medicine, the military, law enforcement, firefighting, paint shops and welding.
To save critical time, Ford identified and repurposed off-the-shelf parts to use in PAPRs, including a seat-cooling fan from its F-150 pickup truck, lithium-ion battery packs from power tools, and respirator hood fabrics sourced from their paint booths.
Ford is also harnessing its 3D printing capability to produce disposable, transparent air respirator masks and face shields for anyone who interacts with the general public. The first shields will be tested this week at hospitals in the Detroit area, and Ford said it can produce 100,000 shields per week if the tests are successful.
In a separate collaboration with Washington-based Ventec Life Systems, General Motors (GM) is rapidly retooling its electronics plant in Kokomo, Indiana to produce up to 10,000 ventilators a month beginning in mid-April, and can create up to 200,000 in total if required.
Additionally, both GM and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) are ramping up production of Level 1 surgical masks, which required GM to temporarily convert a plant in suburban Detroit, and FCA converting one of its car plants in China to start making approximately one million masks every month.
Tesla recently purchased 1,255 ventilators from China and sent them to the USA via air freight.
Formula One teams are fierce competitors on the racetrack, but they are united in their eagerness to help during the pandemic, and have come together in a collaborative programme called ‘Project Pitlane’. Together with the UK government, seven Formula One teams, engine manufacturers and their technology divisions, they’re helping to support the manufacturing of respiratory devices.
Nissan is part of a larger consortium, including sports car firm McLaren and aerospace company Meggitt, and they’re looking to develop a new medical ventilator. The target is to manufacture 5,000 ventilators as soon as possible, with a goal of a further 30,000 in the long term. Manufacturing is expected to start within a month.
The Mahindra Group, also known as Mahindra & Mahindra, immediately set to exploring how its factories could make ventilators and took just 48 hours to come up with a prototype (the Ambu bag) that can be sold affordably.
Car brands such as Ferrari, Fiat and Italian automotive parts manufacturer Magneti Marelli are also supporting ventilator production efforts in Italy to help combat COVID-19 during this period.