Elon Musk filters Tesla air filters and asks how the company can help fight forest fires

Elon Musk – the same man whose company sold flamethrowers called "Not a flamethrower" – wants to know how he can support firefighting in California.

He wants to know how he can help, but he is already helping.

"If Tesla can help the people of California, please let us know," Musk tweeted last week, shortly after fires broke out in the northern and southern parts of the state.

"The S and X models have hospital grade HEPA filters," he continued. "Maybe useful for transporting people."

ALSO READ: Schools in North Bay close while smoky air "puts us all at risk"

Many commentators have applauded Musk for the gesture. We went so far as to call him Jesus Christ. But some have criticized Tesla's CEO for his message of virtue – and for his tweet, which they felt was more like a coded advertisement for Tesla than a real call for help.

"Weird but ok," tweeted several people.

The Teslas S and X models feature indeed a sophisticated air filtration system, which the company calls the "Biological Weapon Defense". The "defense against biological weapons" does not, in fact, protect against biological weapons, as Musk recently pointed out. tweet. It filters the air particles. In other words, Teslas has built-in air purifiers.

In appearance, it is a useful feature for those who are affected by the poor quality of the air resulting from wildfires. On Tuesday, the Bay Area's Air Quality Management District launched a red "unhealthy air" warning across most of the Bay Area, including San Francisco, Oakland and most of North Bay. Officials urge residents to stay indoors.

The CEO has retweeted several Tesla owners who were using laser particle counters to test the biological weapons defense mode. A man shared photos of his "Windows Up / Windows Down" test. The windows down, he recorded an air quality index of 105 – considered "unhealthy for sensitive groups". With the windows up, the IQA was 2 or "good".

"Thank you Tesla!" he concluded by tweet.

READ MORE: How to help the victims of California's forest fires

Others have implored the technology mogul to leave the economy to the professionals.

Andreed Forastieri tweeted: "Just write a check."

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