Air-Powered Car Coming to U.S. in 2009 to 2010 at Sub-$18,000, Could Hit 1000-Mile Ra

[Kalifornia]

Wake me up when we start building cars to run on flywheel batteries. Way more efficient than electrochemical batteries, and capable of taking advantage of gyroscopic balancing.

Doh.

 

[Knightskye]

Wake me up when we start building cars to run on flywheel batteries. Way more efficient than electrochemical batteries, and capable of taking advantage of gyroscopic balancing.

Doh.

So, we shouldn't use a cell phone until it looks really cool and is very efficient?

 

[Renegades]

I see drawings and claims and sales pitch. Not any proof. The car shown would not survive my driveway, let alone my needs.
As I said, it may be OK for a city dweller with a limited travel distance, if it works as advertised.
I have many doubts.
It sounds like someone selling Magic beans.

Hey I see that in your post too you old farmer!
Did you even watch the videos? The creators themselves discuss how it operates, and refuels.
I'm also sure they have thought about most of the obstacles you have, and discussed possible solutions to these scenarios. There will be challenges, this is a basic factor of life.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Once again this is an energy storage medium and NOT A FUEL.

Compressed air as a storage medium has always been interesting. Especially when applied to wind power. Imagine everyone having a wind turbine to drive a compressor and capture energy directly as compressed air to be used in a compressed air car. Seems like it would simplify the whole process, although the amount of power that could be captured that way might not be enough for a timely "fill-up". Any energy helps though.

And wind farms could capture energy and store it as compressed air. It seems like a lot of wind farms are idle when the wind is not in a "suitable" range, or there is no immeadiate need for electricity. Seems like a compressor could run at almost any wind speed, and could store that energy as compressed air.

Who knows if it's workable?

 

[Knightskye]

Hmm.

 

[benhaskins]

http://www.valcent.net/s/Home.asp

http://www.valcent.net/i/misc/Vertigro/index.html

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/don_polec&id=6048192

 

[Kraig]

I wonder how many equivalent gallons of gas it takes to run the compressor to fill the car's tank.
It's probably more energy efficient than a combustion engine, but I question how much.

Yeah but if you had nuclear reactors powering our electric grid you could compress all the air you wanted without using any gasoline.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/don_polec&id=6048192

Algae for fuel? Sounds good. Anything is better than food crops. Didn't Asimov always predict yeast would be the source of food and energy? There has to be some workable ideas out there.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Imagine everyone having a wind turbine to drive a compressor and capture energy directly as compressed air to be used in a compressed air car.

I was thinking of a home wind-compressor for fill-ups, but why not put a pop-up one on the car too. Park in a windy place, and fill-up a little.

Toyota is finally putting solar panels on cars. They should put some on the hood too. Every little bit helps:

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/97794

Or even on the rear window:

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/133/

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Update: nothing on the market yet. And it looks like they have scaled back their options...

Gasoline is already the fuel of the past. The search is on, but what will the fuel of the future be? Zero Pollution Motors, LLC predicts air compression.

Zero Pollution Motors (ZPM) is poised to produce the first compressed air-powered car for sale in the United States by 2nd half 2015.

The AIRPod vehicle, developed by MDI (www.mdi.lu), is the solution to urban pollution and urban mobility. With its small size, a tiny price, zero pollution, and a fun and futuristic design, AIRPod marks a turning point in the range of urban vehicles. It is a real breath of fresh air in cities and the prelude to travel without pollution.

http://zeropollutionmotors.us/

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Always a year or two away...

The car that runs on AIR: Peugeot reveals plans for hybrid set to hit the streets next year

Peugeot has revealed plans to begin selling the first air powered car next year.

Based on a Peugeot 208, it will combine a normal engine with a radical new system that runs on compressed air.

The firm says the car could reduce petrol bills by 80% when driven in cities.

The system works by using a normal internal combustion engine, special hydraulics and an adapted gearbox along with compressed air cylinders that store and release energy. This enables it to run on petrol or air, or a combination of the two.

Air power would be used solely for city use, automatically activated below 43mph and available for ‘60 to 80 per cent of the time in city driving’. By 2020, the cars could be achieving an average of 117 miles a gallon, the company predicts.

The air compression system can re-use all the energy normally lost when slowing down and braking. The motor and a pump are in the engine bay, fed by a compressed air tank underneath the car, running parallel to the exhaust.
...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...ts-year-Peugeot-claims-new-hybrid-117mpg.html

 

[Henry Rogue]

Update: nothing on the market yet. And it looks like they have scaled back their options...



View attachment 2397

View attachment 2398

Birth control on wheels.

 

[Henry Rogue]

So, we shouldn't use a cell phone until it looks really cool and is very efficient?

My first cell phone. Great for construction because it could handle a lot of abuse. You could use it for self defense in a pinch, grab it by the antenna and swing that brick.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Birth control on wheels.

They you will have the kids with the new fad of turning light cars over for fun.

 

[eduardo89]

Air-Powered Car Coming to U.S. in 2009 to 2010 at Sub-$18,000, Could Hit 1000-Mile Range

That didn't exactly happen, did it?

 

[dannno]

My first cell phone.

Holy shit, you're Zack Morris??

 

[pcosmar]

That didn't exactly happen, did it?

I was wondering when I saw this old thread.

I haven't seen them sweeping the market or even on the side of the roads.

 

[HVACTech]

I was wondering when I saw this old thread.

I haven't seen them sweeping the market or even on the side of the roads.

gasoline engines are air pumps dude.
all of the heat produced is wasted, except to keep your feet warm of course.
only the pneumatic force is used.
the same goes for gas turbines. (jet engines for the mundanes)

methinks you would like my 89 dodge ram.
it has a really good air pump.

 

[pcosmar]

gasoline engines are air pumps dude.
all of the heat produced is wasted, except to keep your feet warm of course.
only the pneumatic force is used.
the same goes for gas turbines. (jet engines for the mundanes)

methinks you would like my 89 dodge ram.
it has a really good air pump.

I have known people to convert Gas engines into compressors.

and have used air tools in my trade for years. I don't see compressed air powering a vehicle very far or very long before running out of air.

Maybe with a Huge compressor and a really long hose. but that seems counter productive.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

My compressed water car will be available in late 2014 or early 2015...