EXCLUSIVE: LA unveils Ghostbusters-style car to fight post-wildfire ‘toxic soup’

A futuristic autonomous clean-air unit designed to suck dangerous pollution out of the air is being pitched as Los Angeles’s answer to the post-wildfire ‘toxic soup’ of soot, microplastics and heavy metals

A ‘Ghostbusters-style’ car designed to suck pollution out of the air has been unveiled in California as part of a new plan to clean up Los Angeles after last year’s wildfires.

The futuristic vehicle is designed to drive through the city and strip out harmful particles as it moves.

Contaminated air is drawn into a mobile direct air capture unit, where pollutants are filtered and processed at source.

The system is designed to target soot, black carbon, PM2.5 and other tiny airborne particles linked to traffic, industry and wildfire smoke.

The vehicle is aimed at the worst pollution hotspots, including busy roads, industrial areas, ports and other parts of the city where dangerous particles build up close to ground level.

PlanetWEST, the firm behind the technology, said the system had been developed in response to conditions in Los Angeles after the 2025 urban wildfires, which it says left the city with a “toxic soup” of fine particles, airborne microplastics and wildfire-derived heavy metals.

One image released with the launch shows what is described as an “airport/seaport autonomous MIDAC unit” – a pod-like vehicle with flashing lights and large ducts that appear designed to draw in dirty air.

The futuristic motor has been compared to the Ghostbusters’ Ectomobile – the converted Cadillac ambulance used by Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Egon Spengler and Winston Zeddemore to carry the traps used to suck in and contain ghosts.

Other versions of the technology are also being proposed for use on drones, according to a statement.

The wider plan is for these vehicles and other MIDAC units to be sent into the most polluted areas once sensors and mapping systems have identified the biggest hotspots.

According to PlanetWEST, this would create a moving clean-up network across the city, with the vehicles working in the places where people are most likely to breathe in the highest concentrations of harmful pollution.

The proposal also includes “Clean Air Hubs” across the LA Basin, using the same technology to create safer areas during severe pollution episodes.

“The air in Los Angeles has changed; our defense must change with it,” PlanetWEST’s chief technology officer said in a statement.

“The MIDAC G2H isn’t just a filter; it’s a shield. We are moving beyond passive monitoring to active atmospheric defense, ensuring that the ‘Toxic Soup’ of 2026 doesn’t become a permanent health legacy for the next generation of Angelenos.”

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_{Main image: PlanetWEST}