Many of our automotive manufacturers use the ruse it was "first" at this or the "pioneer" at that and every few years someone reveals the newest test vehicle, peddling it as the universal remedy for greenhouse gasses and the magic potion for the depletion of our resources.

Now an even bigger story is on the horizon. The Minicat Air Car, yes an air car.

In the 60's I remember stories about cars that could run on water and that the oil companies purchased the invention or killed the inventor.

Well a company called MDI claim goes one better!

I first became aware of this company and their car called the Minicat, back in 2002 and shortly there after I emailed them asking if we could "spotlight" their cars in our upcoming newsletter.

They respectfully replied they were not ready for prime time and to be honest I thought it was just another case of automotive "vaporware", well I could be wrong.

After fourteen years of R/D, MDI claims to have developed one of the biggest technological advances of this century an engine that uses compressed air as fuel to power a car?

Moteur Development International founded in 1992, may have the ultimate environment-friendly engine yet.

MDI is a private company located near Nice in Southern France where Mr. Guy Negre and Mr. Cyril, together with a technical team, have developed this new engine technology with the purpose of economizing energy at competitive costs.

MDI claims it has a series of engines and vehicles. MDI says the cars can reach a speed of 68 mph, with a range exceeding 125 miles or 8 hours of travel. The source of power for the car is compressed air stored in tanks. The expansion of this air pushes the pistons and creates movement.

Mr. Negre says the engine is efficient, cost-effective, scalable, and capable of other applications like power generation.

Reports out of India say Indian automaker Tata Motors will be manufacturing the Air Car developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Negre. An agreement has been signed between Tata Motors and MDI. Tata will be supporting further development and refinement of the technology, and its application and licensing for India.

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