Biohazard Defense Mode Engaged

[BrockN]

Actually I have monitored the AQI from AccuWeather and Airnow...on our area the AQI has read above 1000.

My understanding is that AirNow won't report anything above 500, because that's the limit of the EPA AQI scale. So I'd guess you didn't see it on AirNow.

Accuweather owns (?) Plume, which means their AQI index is proprietary. And based on all the parameters it combines to come up with a number, the PM2.5 at their AQI 1000 might only be 500 to maybe 700 micrograms per cubic meter. An extrapolated EPA AQI of 1000 would mean about 1300 ug/m3 (insane concentration!). I can believe an AQI of 1000 from them. It just doesn't mean much when compared to the rest of the world and even AirNow.

And that second recognition is likely why Tesla reads higher than I'd expect. I'll wager they're using Accuweather and their proprietary AQI scale.

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[btcrealm]

Due to wildfires all around our air is now toxic. Made use of the biohazard mode!! Only way we could get out without choking on all the snoke. Eastern Oregon Blue Mountains

Don't miss those scores from living in Oregon. Stay safe out there.

 

[UberNoob]

Finally somewhere safe to fart!


Sorry peeps be holding that one in.

 

[Beetlebug62]

Here's my Cybertruck on FSD switching lanes when it sees a smoking Harley. I immediately turned on Bioweapon defense mode, hahaha. Now, it could just be coincidental, since the Harley seemed a tad slow to go when the light turned green. I don't know what the AQI was, but it looked pretty bad for the Harley rider to have to breathe in all that.

 

[TyPope]

dang, never seen anything near an AQI641.

You haven't been in my truck on Taco Tuesday...

 

[Mikec3399]

i used it all last week with the Candian Wild fires here in Connecticut, Yellow thick smoke, AQI hitting 289,

 

[Black306]

Finally somewhere safe to fart!


Sorry peeps be holding that one in.

If you're farting inside the cabin, you're bypassing the filter.

 

[UberNoob]

If you're farting inside the cabin, you're bypassing the filter.

Nope just inside this thread. Ahahahhaa

 

[HaulingAss]

I'd love to know where Tesla actually gets their data and what they do with it.

The AQI numbers are reported based upon the GPS location of the vehicle, Tesla doesn't change the number they get from whatever weather data aggregator they use, they just report it as received.

 

[BrockN]

The AQI numbers are reported based upon the GPS location of the vehicle, Tesla doesn't change the number they get from whatever weather data aggregator they use, they just report it as received.

My most recent post questioned whether Tesla might be using Accuweather, which uses Plume Labs technology... since Accuweather bought Plume Labs. Their AQI scale is proprietary and doesn't really fit with any scale I know.

That's my best guess, anyway, since I've yet to see my truck display a value that correlates with any reliable source around here. And it's displayed numbers above 500 (see OP's photos), which don't exist on the US EPA scale (but do on Plume's).

All I'm saying is, I don't use the value displayed as a realistic number, because it doesn't fit with the scale my brain knows... I just notice if it goes up or down while I'm traveling.

 

[HaulingAss]

My most recent post questioned whether Tesla might be using Accuweather, which uses Plume Labs technology... since Accuweather bought Plume Labs. Their AQI scale is proprietary and doesn't really fit with any scale I know.

That's my best guess, anyway, since I've yet to see my truck display a value that correlates with any reliable source around here. And it's displayed numbers above 500 (see OP's photos), which don't exist on the US EPA scale (but do on Plume's).

All I'm saying is, I don't use the value displayed as a realistic number, because it doesn't fit with the scale my brain knows... I just notice if it goes up or down while I'm traveling.

The official U.S. EPA AQI scale is defined and categorized up to 500 (Hazardous). However, the underlying calculation formula can produce values higher than 500 during truly extreme events (severe wildfire smoke, for example). In those rare situations a reading slightly or moderately above 500 can be real.

 

[BrockN]

The official U.S. EPA AQI scale is defined and categorized up to 500 (Hazardous). However, the underlying calculation formula can produce values higher than 500 during truly extreme events (severe wildfire smoke, for example). In those rare situations a reading slightly or moderately above 500 can be real.

OK, you made me go back and read a bunch of really boring documents... All of which confirmed my intentional avoidance of AQI as a measuring stick! If you're interested in PM2.5, AQI is a stupid/useless indicator/metric.

The AQI number is calculated using breakpoints, so the slope changes depending on where you are on the scale. It's sensitive at the bottom and jumps quickly with slight increases in PM2.5 (or whatever the primary pollutant is). When you get to the top, it's actually a bit sluggish.

But what's really interesting to me is, my understanding of AQI 500 meaning a 500 ug/m3 reading was right... until 2024. That's when they appear to have changed the last (upper) breakpoint from 500 down to 325! So that's my error. Want to know what a PM2.5 count of 500 today was prior to 2024? 500! Water boiled at 100 degrees back then too, and still does today...

So if I calculate backwards, the AQI of 641 in OP's photo would have indicated a PM2.5 of over 700(!) in pre-2024 terms. Now, in 2026, it results from a PM2.5 count of about 395. THAT number I can believe, because it fits with my original estimation that the smoke in the photos did not appear to be as thick as what the 600 ug/m3 we were marinating in two week ago did.

That explains the AQI displayed on the Tesla screen. And it confirms to me why I don't have any use for an AQI scale. It also explains why the usefulness of the AQI scale ends at 500... that's the last breakpoint and extrapolating beyond doesn't really result in anything more than a number that doesn't mean much of anything... the recommendation was already "don't go outside, don't do anything" at 500, so does a higher number mean "don't go outside more, do less than nothing, we really mean it"?

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