Ford's COVID-19 Pivot: How this automotive shifted from cars to ventilators (with booming results)

The Ford Project Apollo is the automaker's effort to produce Powered Air-Purifying Respirators (PAPR), which were needed during the pandemic. The Ford Project Apollo is an astounding example of engineering.  
 

Ford’s engineers were able to produce the product within a month, from the ground up. It was a completely new item for Ford to produce and there was very little room for error. Ford combined its available resources and turned to more recent technology, 3D printing, in order to speed up the production process. Components of the PAPR respirators were inspired by existing Ford parts. For example, the fans in the PAPR respirators are almost identical to the fans that are used in the ventilated seats of the Ford F-150. 
 

While this was going on, certain other components, like the filters, needed to be developed and constructed from scratch. Ford required a filter that delivered an efficiency of more than 95 percent, and the company was successful in developing one that delivered an efficiency of an incredible 99.97 percent. Against the odds, Ford was able to ramp up production to satisfy the demand for PAPRs and help protect our healthcare workers on the front lines fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. 
 

To date, here is what Ford produced to help with the much-needed items during the Covid-19 pandemic: 
 

When considered as a whole, the Ford Project Apollo program is without a doubt one of the most impressive technological achievements of our era. Ford was successful in engineering and developing life-saving products against the odds in the middle of a global pandemic. If that doesn’t increase your trust in Ford products, we don’t know what will. That same quality and innovative engineering goes into every custom ordered Ford car or truck. At Butler Ford in Milledgeville, we stand by our community and we may be a small-town dealership, but we treat you big.