Zero Pollution Motors to Introduce Compressed Air Cars in US for 2011
Company Determined to Overcome Obstacles
Zero Pollution Motors intends to sell autos that run mainly on compressed air and sell them for $20,000, according to Kiplinger. A small motor can burn diesel, gasoline, salad oil, or ethanol to supplement the compressed air for highway driving.
The compressed air vehicle (CAV) that Zero Pollution Motors is developing has a top speed of 35 mph and top distance of 80 miles when running solely on a tank of compressed air.
Zero Pollution Motors is not the only company planning to introduce CAVs; the technology was developed by MDI, a French company, which plans to introduce the cars in France next year. MDI has already sold the rights to produce CAVs for the Indian market to India's largest automaker, Tata. Germany, South Africa and Israel are also showing possible interest in MDI's technology.
The CAVs envisioned by Zero Pollution Motors will likely compete with electric fuel-celled vehicles. The CAVs appear to have some natural advantages over the electric vehicles as they won't require the erection of a fuel-cell refueling infrastructure.
Refilling the 52 gallon compressed air tank requires access to either a gas station compressed air unit which takes minutes, or an electric outlet to power the onboard air compresser. The use of the onboard air compresser to refill the tank consumes about 4 hours and is expected to cost about $2 in electrical usage.
The all-glue construction of the CAV has raised concerns as to how the air-powered autos can meet required crash tests in the United States but Zero Pollution Motors owner has expressed confidence that with computer modeling to guide their development, the company will be able to fashion the vehicles to meet the test requirements.
How Stuff Works describes compressed air technology for those wanting more technical information on how these new autos will function.
Sources: http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081102/NEWS/811020326; http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/106040/Air-Cars:-A-New-Wind-for-America%27s-Roads; http://b2bmanufacturerindia.wordpress.com/2008/07/12/india%E2%80%99s-largest-auto-maker-contracts-with-mdi/; http://news.en.autos.sympatico.msn.ca/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5044057; http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6138972/; http://auto.howstuffworks.com/air-car1.htm.
Published by Carol Bengle Gilbert - Featured Contributor in Travel and Lifestyle
2010 Yahoo! Outstanding Contributor of the Year, Carol has consistently been designated a Top 100 Yahoo! Contributor Network writer. She received a 2008 People's Media Award for "Best Article." Web writing... View profile
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21 Comments
Post a Commentair car is bull. we will never see one
Thank you for the info. Roberta B.
Cool! I would love to drive one...
To Greenman: What you need to realise is that your comparison is misguided. So lets look at the logic. The Airpod takes 1.5 minuites of coal fired power station to charge its compressed air tank. It terms of the power stations output thats a nanosecond of carbon emmission at worst. The vehicle then runs for approx 4 hours on that charge and if you go to www.thefuture.co.nz and study the stats you will discover that the air is actually exausted cleaner than it enters the motor. (So the MDI motor actually reduces power stations pollution)
Now compare this to any alterative such as petrol, gas, biofuel, fuel cell or even batteries. They all involve an enormous amount of carbon emmision and other pollution to bring to the "pump". (Oil for eg: exploration, drilling, refining, tranport around the world and to the pump and then pumping into your tank let alone actual consumption). All other "fuels' have this flaw to a greater or lesser extent.
"Fuel" for the MDI motor is all aroun
Excellent points, Green Man. While production is low, it is probably of little significance. But if this cars catch on, it will become an important issue.
The thing that you have to realize is that these things are not zero pollution. The require electricity to power the compressor. 60% of electricity is the US is generated from coal, which is one of the biggest contributors of GHG's. The good thing it is that they are small and efficient, but to truly make them zero energy, the compressor needs to be powered by renewable energy sources. The same is true for plug in electric vehicles. Our current electric infrastructure can not support this added demand, and will drive power companies to build more coal and nuclear power plants to meet demand. If you buy one of these, you need to invest in the renewable energy production to fuel it as well.
Great article! I and another fellow AC writer also wrote on these. I think it's great that we can all spread the word about possible eco-friendly options for the near future. :-)
this is such an awsome concept. I wish i could have one and then i could go locally everywhere with it (as a second car) kind of a motorcycle/segway but it is covered and holds two people. The most gas you spend is on the short trips we all make (less than 2 miles). I just wonder how it would hold up on hills and such. Any ideas ? The price tag now seems a little pricey, but with full production, they might be able to strip that down quite a bit.
Cassie Flagg
I must have one.
Fascinating and your articles are always full of great reporting and amazing. :-)