THE AIRCAR IS REALITY

19 March, 2007 12:00:00

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A French designer of engines for Formula One racing cars has turned his attention to creating an engine that runs on, and emits, only air! By all accounts, this is no pie-in-the-sky dream invention either - as the vehicle’s release is slated for later this year.
With a top speed of 110kph (68mph) and a range of about 200kms (125miles), it looks to be an entirely useable commuter, and more. In fact, once the initial model is on the market, there are plans for a hybrid version - a car that will use a small amount of fuel to generate the compressed air required for the main engine - resulting in a 4,500km range (2,800 miles) from just one tank of fuel.
The vehicle´s electrical system is also revolutionary. MDI bought a patent designed to reduce the usual set of electrical cables to just one. A tiny radio transmitter is used whose signal is picked up and converted by microcontrollers in each device in the car: lights, intermission, etc. The design is 20 kilos lighter and makes maintenence much simpler. What about keys and alarms in such a system? Well, just turn off the mini-emitter (the size of a small keyring).

At MDI we have also been looking into a new system to replace keys. A card could be used to gain access and start the car. To open the car, the card would just be read automatically, without having to insert it into any slot. The card´s proximity would be enough to unlock the car.

*Consumption is less than one Euro per 100Km (Approx 0.75 Euro, according to use, i.e. about a tenth that of a petrol car). This makes it an attractive prospect for any driver, professional or not.

*As no combustion takes place, there is no pollution. Its mileage is about double that of the most advanced electric car (200 a 300 Km or 10 hours of driving), a factor which makes a perfect choice in cities where the 80% of motorists drive at less than 60Km.

*Refilling the car will, once the market develops, take place at adapted petrol stations to administer compressed air. In 2 or 3 minutes, and at a cost of approximately 1.5 Euros, the car will be ready to go another 200-300 kilometres.

*As an viable alternative, the car carries a small compressor which can be connected to the mains (220V or 380V) and refill the tank in 3-4 hours

*Due to the absence of combustion and, consequently, of residues, changing the oil (1 litre of vegetable oil) is necessary only every 50,000 Km.

*The temperature of the clean air expelled by the exhaust pipe is between 0 - 15 degrees below zero, which makes it suitable for use by the internal air conditioning system with no need for gases or loss of power.

Comments (13 posted):

on 26 March, 2007 11:59:15

Might work just fine until the tank gets bumped and springs a leak/explodes.

on 29 March, 2007 04:47:29

There are numerous receptacles for the storage of compressed gasses that are in fact burst proof and lightweight. If one were willing to trade weight for capacity (I'm sure there is some experimentation to be done regarding efficiency/air consumption/storage) inconel air tanks would be near indesctuctable.
The risks of H2 and plain old petrol are just as prevalent as the risks involved with compressed gas release. While I enjoy my high $, high emission performance, I truly think I would be interested in a commuter that had THIS kind of mileage potential.
Excellent research!

on 30 March, 2007 06:54:33

Ikkonoishi, does a gasoline tank explode when it gets bumped?
I think this is the greatest discovery since fire.

on 03 April, 2007 05:05:52

Nice idea, but there's always a tradeoff. In this case...how do you compress air into a tank? If you guessed "gas-powered motor," you are correct. So we just have to figure out how much gas it takes to get the air into super-compressed tanks, and then add that to the small amount of gas the car uses, and we would have the true environmental cost.

on 04 April, 2007 09:18:30

They spoke of a hybrid vehicle using compressed air and having an engine (gas, bio, whatever) to create air and they said it could go about 2800 miles. Sounds fantastic to me. I think that answers the question posed by a previous commenter.

I take an 1100 mile trip (one way) each year. Doing that on one tank of fuel would be great.

on 29 May, 2007 10:15:26

You will never see this in th U.S. because big business and our government wants to continue to sell 65 billion gallons of gasoline that they tax up to $0.50 per gallon every year. Also there are many ways to compress air that they can't control such as a wind mill, a water wheel, or a solar collector that charges a battery that will run a compressor. All of these methods are non poluting but it gives the citizen independence and that will not be allowed by those in charge.

on 02 July, 2007 11:12:13

I know the above poses an answer to the question, WHY ARE WE WAITING SO LONG FOR THIS TECHNOLOGY? Its no more expensive to produce than the current modes of transport.

on 18 August, 2007 07:34:39

what is the size or weight of this projected car ? And as for worrying about a gas tank being punctured, I am sure the car you are driving now has a fuel tank of some sort. And if this car is a small diesel with a relatively small tank it wont blow up.

on 15 May, 2008 04:16:14

I wonder why the media isn't paying attention to this huge story? Also, I wonder why the environmental whackos aren't dancing in the street. Could it be that the air car story will not be conducive to raising funds? I guess that since baby seals are not being killed and polar bears are not drowning they ain't interested.

on 08 July, 2008 04:32:07

The reason why is that environmentalists can not make any money off of this. The overall maintenance and cost to use is so low that it will never be massively marketed. Not enough people can make money off of it.

Its sad really.