What do you think of this new air powered car?

Question

It would be great as a second vehicle in big cities.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4217016.html

Answer 1

I think it is a great idea.

The aircar uses compressed air to push the pistins in the engine up and down. The cost of a tank fill up will only be two dollars at the most.

The safety features is a different issue. It is made up of glued together aluminum, fiber glass and cotton fiber and did not do so well in America's crash tests. This could stop the aircar from entering America.

I have done some research on this myself. Over twelve countries will be mass producing this car by 2008. MDI, the company that created this car is working on a hybrid version that uses one small tank of petroleum or an electric battery that could get you from Los Angeles to New York on one tank! I hope this car will become popular!

Answer 2

It is a great idea for a country like India, where current safety regulations allow for such a light frame. With a little luck, the technology will expand and can be adopted by other countries.

It seems Europe is interested, so that may lead to additional development.

Any full-electric vehicle is superior to a hybrid from an environmental standpoint. Moving the pollution from many cars to the few (controllable) power plants is a good thing, as it allows society to focus on one source and make improvements. A hybrid simply reduces the need for gas (a great thing), but a full electric vehicle is a better option. This compressed air vehicle is essentially an electric vehicle, as it would charge from power generated at the power plant.

Answer 3

I just can't believe North America may never see it because of its fiber glass when corvettes and sports cars (which a lot of them are made of fiber glass) can go driving around all over our freeways and streets. They'll make some excuse.

Even if it does come to the U.S. they'll make it cost anywhere from 25,000 to 100,000 dollars instead of below 15,000 dollars. Only the richer class people would probably be able to purchase it.

The only thing I was thinking about is, "Yeah, sure, it takes fossil to produce the electricity, but doesn't it take fossil fuels to produce and put together a hybrid? Or is it produced by air power?"

I'm not entirely sure yet about the these two questions. After all, they're still looking into it and they've only got prototypes. I hope it works out nicely. It'd be really nice.

Answer 4

don't let anyone tell you this is an "emissions free" vehicle. Sure, the only thing coming out of the tailpipe is air. But, chances are, fossil fuels were burned to create the electricity. In India, that mostly means coal. But the carbon emissions per mile of these things still far outdoes any gasoline car on the market.
Unfortunately, the streets of North America may never see the Air Car, though; it's light-weight, glued-together fiberglass construction might not do so well in our crash tests.

Answer 5

Hi,
It is an interesting concept, and its nice to see new ideas entering the market.

For the version that runs only on the energy stored in the compressed air tanks:
It seems to me this is very much like an electric car running on batteries. Instead of batteries to store energy it has compressed air tanks. Instead of an electric motor to use the stored energy, it has a compressed air piston motor. The source of energy for both is the grid power that runs the compressor or charges the batteries.

I did not see anything in the Pop Mechanics article or the MDI website that compared the efficiency or cost the compressed air/piston motor to the batteries/electric motor. I think you would need this to see if it has any significant advantage (or disadvantage) compared to an electric car.

For the hybrid version with an onboard IC engine to generate compressed air:
It seems to me this is a very similar approach to a hybrid (like a Prius) or maybe to a plug in hybrid.
As above, it uses compressed air for energy storage and an air piston engine instead of batteries and an electric motor used by a electric hybrid. And, both use an internal combustion engine to charge the energy storage (batteries or compressed air).
Again, I could not find anything that indicates which approach is more efficient or cost effective.

It seems to me that its going to be a while before we find out whether the electric or compressed air approach works better (or maybe there is a place for both).

Answer 6

Very economic only it probably costs so much we won't be seeing it out in public so much.If you think that a solar powered car is great I've learned that it takes !A LOT! of fossil fuels to make a solar panel thus renering the car not so effieccient.A car running on electricity(Hybrid) may seem good but remember that every time you charge up it takes up fossil fuels at the power plant to make the electricity.Sorry :-) .However I don't see any disadvantage to a wind powered car except maybe the whole if theres any wind part.Hope that helps amigo!

Answer 7

i love the idea, it seams only obvious to me that this design could easily adapt to everyday life, with a simple home model of the compressor device, although this as well as the public stations would get the electricity from power plants using less acceptable fuels. the car could even go to a next level with a small onboard compressor that is solar powered, the car could then literally refill itself while your at the office, and without the intervention of other fuels to produce the electricity to power the compressor.
I would like to see the states become a bit more lax on the safty "requirements",certainly lable the safty level and make comsumers aware of the increase danger of owning the vehical, but let us make the descision if our safty is more important than the feul economy, i mean we are still allowed in my state to ride a motorcycle at 65 miles an hour with no helmet, how safe is that?

Answer 8

It will never make it in the United States. It's basically made up of glued together pieces of fiberglass and would never pass US crash tests.

Also you have to remember that all of those cars would have to be pumped full of air. That pumping would require fossil fuels to pump the air. Nice idea, but needs refined to make it in the US.

The auto industry doesn't try stopping such things they try promoting them. But they also have to look at it from a feasibility (not feasible due to crash testing) and marketability standpoint.

That's why right now their biggest push is for E85 made from corn and later potentially cellulose (corn stalks, grasses...anything made of cellulose basically). It has the best chance of being marketable and working right now. Because the car can run on gas or ethanol and now the US is starting to get E85 stations across it. While at the same time it helps farmers, meaning a political plus for legislators in farming states like the midwest.

If using the car's own compressor it takes 4 hours to recharge. That's a very long time. Wouldn't you like it being on a road trip and run out of power and oops...have to wait for hours while waiting for my car to refuel. Plus, I seriously doubt a solar air compressor would have nearly enough power to compress the air fast enough to give it energy to go for a good while although it might help a little.

Answer 9

The hybrid version does seem pretty handy, but scientists are gonna have to tweak the tecnology more so that it's a little more powerful.

The models that are coming out in india wouldnt be street legal in the US because of crash ratings.

Aside from that, where am i gonna refuel it? I keep hearing about all these new technologies for "greener" cars but of all the gas stations I've been to, Ive never even seen one pump for hydrogen, bio-deisel, or electricrical refueling.

It's a pretty big issue

Answer 10

When I was in mechanics school we learned about twin engine cars that were compressed air and gasoline. Allowing the car to run on compressed air in situations under 35mph and gas above that. I think its a great idea anything that would rob the powers of this country from profitting on oil would be GREAT!