Panasonic’s portable Nanoe X air purifier filters odors and pollutants while you drive

Put away the Little Trees air freshener, Panasonic has a more advanced solution the next time you want to make your car smell its best. At this year’s CES, the company showed off a portable air purifier that can fit in the cupholder of nearly any car, and filter out odors and even some pathogenic viruses and bacteria. The device uses Panasonic’s Nanoe X technology, which employs hydroxyl radicals, a diatomic molecule that’s known to act as a “detergent” when it comes into contact with pollutants, to clean the air. Panasonic says it takes about two hours for the device to freshen up the cabin of a car, and it does so while only producing about 36 decibels of sound. All you need to do is plug the Nanoe X Portable Air Purifier plugs into one of your car’s USB ports.

Panasonic is not the first company to announce a portable in-car purifier, but with the exception of Philips, it’s not exactly a market crowded by big brands. The company also went out of its way to certify the Nanoe X Purifer with the California Air Resource Board (CARB). Panasonic did not announce pricing and availability information for the device. Expect those to arrive at a later date.