Car Runs On Air

[Krootie]

Car Runs On Air
Car Runs On Air

This five-seater car runs on compressed air, has zero pollution, very low running costs and will cost just over $5,000.

Refilling the automobile will, once the market develops, take place at adapted petrol stations to administer compressed air. In two or three minutes, and at a cost of approximately 2 dollars (1.5 Euros), the car will be ready to go another 125-175 miles (200-300 km). More info: BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Five-seat concept car runs on air

Oh! And they called it a "cute car".

[John_H]

The end of the video sucks, giving less weight to the other claims. The compressed air cannot run a generator to compress more air to run the car without just wasting power, resulting in no gain.

The car is probably beyond "light weight" since the amount of energy to move a car and driver 125-175 miles is pretty extreme. The air tanks would have to be extreme in both volume and pressure and one heck of a hazard in an accident. I don't like pressurized hydrogen either.

Ever see what happens when the neck of a scuba tank is severed? Yikes. It a lot of energy but I do NOT see that as something that can work on a Smart weight-class car for such a distance.

Given the inefficiencies of highly compressed gasses (much of the compression energy lost to waste heat) it's hard to see the overall energy budget as "efficient" compared to all electric technologies.

The one positive is that compressed air tanks are probably lighter than batteries.

While novel (compared to competing technologies) I don't personally consider the air car to have a leg up on anyone.

[Krootie]

Our daughter with a Ph. D. in Chem. Engineer doubts the use of pressurized hydrogen. She'd agree with you.

[BigWarpGuy]

The AirCar from MDI is kinda cute. There are variations of the vehicle.

[Brabus]

Originally Posted by Krootie

In two or three minutes, and at a cost of approximately 2 dollars (1.5 Euros), the car will be ready to go another

LOL, first expensive bottled water and now expensive bottled air. haha

I only drink bottled water because the water in CT is awful (NYC has great water though from the catskills). If this actually worked, I'd buy AIR in a heartbeat.

One day we will be buzzing around the sky like the Jetsons!

[Brabus]

Originally Posted by John_H

The air tanks would have to be extreme in both volume and pressure and one heck of a hazard in an accident. I don't like pressurized hydrogen either.

Ever see what happens when the neck of a scuba tank is severed? Yikes. It a lot of energy but I do NOT see that as something that can work on a Smart weight-class car for such a distance.

That's exactly why I removed the propane tank from my Volkswagen bus. They mount it sitting on the side behind the drivers door with copper pipes running the entire length of the bus. No thank you! BOOOM

Then again the gas tank is below the driver and passenger's seats.