The world’s first commercial compressed air-powered vehicle is rolling towards the production line. The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre, will be built by India’s largest automaker, Tata Motors.
The Air Car uses compressed air to push its engine’s pistons. If the manufacturers have no surprises up their exhaust pipes the car will be practical and reasonably priced. The CityCat model will clock out at 110 Kph with a driving range of 200 Kilometres
Refueling is simple and will only take a few minutes. That is, if you live nearby a gas station with custom air compressor units. The cost of a fill up is approximately $2.00. If a driver doesn't have access to a compressor station, they will be able to plug into the electrical grid and use the car’s built-in compressor to refill the tank in about 4 hours.
How does an Air Car Work?
Although potentially revolutionary it really isn’t that complicated. What a compressed-air car does is use the force of super-compressed air to move the engine’s pistons up and down, as opposed to explosions produced from injecting a small amount of fuel.
To get things moving on compressed air, weight reduction is a top priority. The aluminum-based engine used in this car weighs half what a normal engine does, and the frame is also built out of lightweight materials.
And this isn't the last we'll hear of the technology. The folks making the Air Car are already working on a hybrid version that would use an on-board, gasoline-powered compressor to refill the air tanks when they run low. Negre says that technology could easily squeeze a cross country trip out of one tank of gasoline.
8 comments:
That must be most welcome especially by people who are concerned about the environment.
Yes Ramesh!
hope tata brings it to the streets soon! :)
dei machi superb da .. if dis comes den nano wud lose market da .. its for sure ..
Interesting!
ya madhav! it will be quite a revolution if launched here!
yea its very interesting ash! BIG fuel bills will be history when this car reaches the market!
Freddy,
Excellent! But, I say, like water which is a natural resource and should be free, don't we now have to pay for air as well
:(((
Julia
julia,
hahaa! yeah we may have to for compressed air! atleast the price may not rise as often as it does now! :)
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