Pressure For Change from Air Car
by Tony Bosworth, Sydney, Australia on 05.28.07
Not the prettiest, maybe.... but there are no emissions.
India’s largest automaker is set to start producing the world’s first commercial air-powered vehicle. The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre for Luxembourg-based MDI, uses compressed air, as opposed to the gas-and-oxygen explosions of internal-combustion models, to push its engine’s pistons.
Some 6000 zero-emissions Air Cars are scheduled to hit Indian streets in August of 2008, reports Popular Mechanics.
Barring any last-minute design changes on the way to production, the Air Car should be surprisingly practical. The US$12,700 CityCAT, one of a handful of planned Air Car models, can hit 68 mph and has a range of 125 miles. It will take only a few minutes for the CityCAT to refuel at gas stations equipped with custom air compressor units; MDI says it should cost around $2 to fill the car’s carbon-fiber tanks with 340 liters of air at 4350 psi. Drivers will also be able to plug into the electrical grid and use the car’s built-in compressor to refill the tanks in about fours hours.
It’s unlikely Air Car will be sold in the US – the world’s biggest single auto market - especially considering its all-glue construction. But that doesn’t mean the major automakers can write it off as a bizarre Indian experiment — MDI has signed deals to bring its design to 12 more countries, including Germany, Israel and South Africa. ::Popular Mechanics
I hope the best for this compresed air car. It would cut down on burning fuels and also permit the use of renewable energy produced electricity. It seems like a practical way to solve transportation energy problems and fuel costs at the same time. I think large cities especially would benefit.
adrianakau@aol.com
What a great idea. With specs like 68MPH and 125 mile range, it's as good as or better than current electrics, and with no batteries to include.
I've seen this new engine design, and if it works as claimed it is a very good idea. Using compressed air for energy storage can be much greener than any battery. No lithium, lead or other exotic metals that need recycling, I like that.
There are losses in any energy storage system, and there will be losses with compressed air, but even with more losses the benign nature of using compressed air can be a big advantage.
Changing to electric vehicles seems to be a great idea, but if manufacturing millions of batteries causes more pollution, compressed air could be much more sensible for the planet.
It's about time!!!!! Watch to see how long it takes Europe and then the US to catch on. You just know the US will fall into line dead last. :(
Two questions they have yet to answer which are necessary to evaluate this vehicle:
1. How many kWh are consumed by the compressor to fill the tank.
2. Range provided under standard test such as EU NEDC, Japan 10-15 mode or any steady state modes.
Probably the range will be way below what you can do with twenty gallons of gasoline, but just think of the simplicity of the distribution network: all it takes to setup a refill station is a large tank and a compressor. No more carrying around with tank trucks. Said compressor could be powered by wind turbines or solar-stirling or hydraulic turbines, + grid power as backup when there is no wind, sun or water respectively.
Simple refill stations means that there will be many, so that range is not a real issue (all the more so as refill time is seconds).
This seems fabulous - a car simply exhaling as it moves down the road. Does anyone know how the compressed air would react in a collision? It seems 4350 psi could be quite dangerous if the tank were ruptured.
Well you have Tesla! (although it's not exactly affordable)
This looks very promising indeed. It's amazing that you can get that kind of performance just by squeezing some air. No details on CO2 emissions on the website but I expect they're low given the low costs of refilling. This is a cheap, good looking and very green car. It will sell well!
I love the engine tech
but i could design a better body in an hour -seriously
any mention of weight capacity?
I've been following the development of this company for some time now. It is great to see that their cars are finally going to be hitting the streets soon!
The air tanks are built with the nozzle is positioned in the middle of each cylinder to prevent any possibility of a "jet effect" if a nozzle was damaged. Also the tanks are designed to break with linear cracks along the length of the air cylinders upon impact to prevent any dangerous explosion in the event of a crash.
I'm curious about the service life of the motor.
Typically compressed air has a lot of moisture in it and corrodes motors pretty quickly.I suppose some things could be done to mitigate this, such as using an air desiccationn system at the refill station and some kind of filter/lubricator in the car motor.
Lil' hugger:
You're assuming the engine would be ferrous metal based. Without any significant heat generation, the engine could be all aluminum, or possibly even composite.
Actually, rather than heat, the engine would get rather cold as the liquid air evaporates. Instead of waste heat, you'd have waste cold. So, *bonus*, free air conditioning. Winter heat would be the problem. Probably solved with a motor generating electric heat. Almost AC in reverse.
How much energy would it take (Gas, Electricity, etc) to create fortytwo hundred pounds of pressure? And, what happens if you spring a leak in your compressed air tank? Thumbing for a ride, is not my cup of tea! And, what about collisions? Sounds nice about turbines.
Truespeak, you are right. The USA will fall into line dead last. But that is because the politicians over here are owned body and soul by the oil companies. If our collapsing country has any hope of becoming energy independent, it will be in spite of our corrupt government. Don't expect any saviors from our upcoming election. It is seething corruption, and wars for oil, from end to end.
If this car hits Indian roads it will revolutionise the whole industry and eventually inflation will be in negative values.