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Old 05-31-2007, 12:28 PM   #1
KILLER74Z28
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Air-Car Ready for Mass Production

Air-Car Ready for Mass Production

By Bob Ewing

The world's first commercial compressed air-powered vehicle is rolling towards the production line. The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre, will be built by India's largest automaker, Tata Motors.

The Air Car uses compressed air to push its engine's pistons. It is anticipated that approximately 6000 Air Cars will be cruising the streets of India by 2008. If the manufacturers have no surprises up their exhaust pipes the car will be practical and reasonably priced. The CityCat model will clock out at 68 mph with a driving range of 125 miles.

Refueling is simple and will only take a few minutes. That is, if you live nearby a gas station with custom air compressor units. The cost of a fill up is approximately $2.00. If a driver doesn't have access to a compressor station, they will be able to plug into the electrical grid and use the car's built-in compressor to refill the tank in about 4 hours.

The compressed air technology is basically just a way of storing electrical energy without the need for costly, heavy, and occasionally toxic batteries. So, in a sense, this is an electric car. It just doesn't have an electric motor.

But 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. However, that does not mean the Air car is confined to the sub-continent. Nègre has signed deals to bring its design to 12 more countries, including Germany, Israel and South Africa.

And this isn't the last we'll hear of the technology. The folks making the Air Car are already working on a hybrid version that would use an on-board, gasoline-powered compressor to refill the air tanks when they run low. Negre says that technology could easily squeeze a cross country trip out of one tank of gasoline.

A variety of videos (of varying quality) on this technology can be found on YouTube.

Via: Popular Mechanics
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Old 05-31-2007, 03:12 PM   #2
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I love reading about new technology. I truly hope it gets implemented and is practical.
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Old 05-31-2007, 03:42 PM   #3
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As I was reading this, I thought when I got to the part about a hybrid it would say it runs on either air or farts.

JWz28.
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Old 06-01-2007, 10:17 AM   #4
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Just wait until one of those suckers explodes because of a crack or weakening of the air tank!
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Old 06-01-2007, 10:51 AM   #5
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I was thinking that too. Or, you get into a wreck and *Ka-BOOB*!...nothing left.
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Old 06-01-2007, 11:02 AM   #6
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The ultimate air-bag...
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Old 06-01-2007, 11:50 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TAG UR IT View Post
I was thinking that too. Or, you get into a wreck and *Ka-BOOB*!...nothing left.
We (my office) when discussing this more thought along the lines of the air tank in "Gone in 60 seconds"...instant rocket-mode!
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Old 06-01-2007, 12:57 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MerF View Post
We (my office) when discussing this more thought along the lines of the air tank in "Gone in 60 seconds"...instant rocket-mode!


I had thought of that too. Talk about some serious 0-60mph times!!!
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Old 06-07-2007, 08:34 PM   #9
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Talking !!!

I'm sorry, I like new technology, too.

But I just cannot manage to get past the fact that the car is manufactured by Ta-Ta motors!

Am I the only one immature enough to have spotted this??
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Old 06-07-2007, 08:47 PM   #10
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I didn't see it, but I'm laughing my ass off right now!
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Old 06-08-2007, 01:26 AM   #11
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I missed that!
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Old 06-08-2007, 06:07 AM   #12
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Tata motors....... Ta Ta! sounds like they want to leave already!
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