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I this just another case of automotive "vaporware", I hope I'm wrong. The Minicat Air Car, claims to run on compressed air as a fuel to power the car.
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.
Not much new tech here---air powered locomotives were used in mines from the 1890s to the 1930s. Some had multi-stage motors with "interheaters" between stages to make them more efficient. The problem with air power is energy storage. A 10 gal. air tank at 3000psi only has 94 hp-minutes of energy (1 hp for 94 min, 10hp for 9.4 min, etc.) so range can be limited unless higher pressures or bigger tanks are specified. There is a small air car for sale in India right now, it only has a range of 60km--and its little more than a 2 seat go-cart with a fiberglass body. There might be some potential for a limited use urban car here, but electric is the future.
Guy Negre of MDI Air Car engine that runs on compressed air. Emissions are only filtered air that's cleaner than outside air. 300 bars of pressure in carbon-fibre & kevlar air tanks. Car can travel at 110 km/hr and has a 150 km driving range. Refilling can be done by plugging in at home or at a special high-pressure air station. Dual-energy models use small amounts of bio-fuels that can extend the range to over 1400 kms.
Pollution free vehicle that produces zero emissions. When the car stops at traffic lights, the engine stops so no energy is lost because there's no idling.
Watch it on youtube at: youtube.com/user/catvolution, or go to catvolution.com or mdi.lu for more information.
why don't you ask the folks who have the US market license? they can be found as: zeropollutionmotors.us
they are saying that they will be building a factory in NY state, toward sales in 2009 -2010. they'll start taking reservations, although I think it might be more than $99 this time around ;-)
anyway the first model due here is bigger than I need, but the other one looks pretty good.
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