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International
FIVE SEAT CONCEPT CAR RUNS ON AIR ! TO BE MARKETED 2009.
By Roger Harrabin
Environment analyst, BBC News
An engineer has promised that within a year he will start selling a car that runs on compressed air, producing no emissions at all in town.
The OneCAT will be a five-seater with a glass fibre body, weighing just 350kg and could cost just over £2,500.
It will be driven by compressed air stored in carbon-fibre tanks built into the chassis.
The tanks can be filled with air from a compressor in just three minutes - much quicker than a battery car.
Alternatively, it can be plugged into the mains for four hours and an on-board compressor will do the job.
For long journeys the compressed air driving the pistons can be boosted by a fuel burner which heats the air so it expands and increases the pressure on the pistons. The burner will use all kinds of liquid fuel.
The designers say on long journeys the car will do the equivalent of 120mpg. In town, running on air, it will be cheaper than that.
"The first buyers will be people who care about the environment," says French inventor Guy Negre.
"It also has to be economical."
Major savings
Mr Negre has been promising for more than a decade to be on the verge of a breakthrough. Independent observers are more convinced this time because he recently secured backing from the giant Indian conglomerate Tata to put the finished touches to the engine.
Aircar being filled (BBC)
The compressed air is stored in carbon-fibre tanks
Tata is the only big firm he'll license to sell the car - and they are limited to India. For the rest of the world he hopes to persuade hundreds of investors to set up their own factories, making the car from 80% locally-sourced materials.
"This will be a major saving in total emissions," he says.
"Imagine we will be able to save all those components travelling the world and all those transporters."
He wants each local factory to sell its own cars to cut out the middle man and he aims for 1% of global sales - about 680,000 per year.
Terry Spall from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers says: "I really hope he succeeds. It is a really brave experiment in producing a sustainable car."
But he said he was interested to see how the car would fare with safety tests and how much it would appeal to a public conditioned to expect luxury fittings adding to the weight of the vehicle.
Mr Negre says there's no issue with safety - if the air-car crashes the air tanks won't shatter - they will split with a very loud bang. "The biggest risk is to the ears."
lol yes you are right, if riding in the air powered car. but i was referring to the horse and buggy. most horses know the way home if ridden in particular routes enough times. getting tanked at the local saloon and then riding in the buckboard passed out sounds fun lol.
By loser4all [Affiliate User] 1215552819 Reply Spam [+0] Moderate Up Moderate Down Removelol.ya if you could put a supercharger or turbo to suck in more air that would be pretty cool.
By alphaXc [Affiliate User] 1215516495 Reply Spam [+0] Moderate Up Moderate Down RemoveMy car is a 1989 VW golf 1.3, I can put my foot to the floor but nothing much happens :o) All I'm saying is I'd be quite happy with one if it can do 70mph comfortably. I know it wont be everyone's cup of tea but if people want faster cars they can chise to stay with petrol. I'm sure over time thought he air power technology will get better and the cars will go faster. I look forward to seeing them become available.
By biglew23 [Affiliate User] 1215515763 Reply Spam [+0] Moderate Up Moderate Down Removeso you never just put your foot to the floor in your car just for fun?
By alphaXc [Affiliate User] 1215459141 Reply Spam [+0] Moderate Up Moderate Down RemoveAs long as they can do the speed limits in England, they're ok by me.
By biglew23 [Affiliate User] 1215446950 Reply Spam [+0] Moderate Up Moderate Down RemoveNot if they go 80mph it wouldn't. You'd be picking the beer can out of your throat if you crashed in one of those things at 80 mph ;o)
By biglew23 [Affiliate User] 1215446772 Reply Spam [+0] Moderate Up Moderate Down Removelol, doesnt 50 to a 100 years of as good as no progress in personal transportation strike you as somewhat odd :), looks like a few inventors are about to break through the corporate technology blockade (not coincidentally in those countries where the establishment isnt that strong yet), if only a single one can make it the whole thing will come down
By random0815 [Affiliate User] 1215087796 Reply Spam [+0] Moderate Up Moderate Down RemoveHello, a little comment from a french student.
I am just looking at this car project and i am very happy.
Even if the design of the car is ugly and the motor make some noises, i think this car is very promising !
With this engineer, if the car can get a great succes because of the car price and essence augmentation, maibe the car industry will be in a turning point !
ps: sorry for my bad english.
bye.
The US will never allow this thing to come to fruition, because oil is traded in dollars. This threatens the dollar monopoly. The US will never let any oil producing nation to trade their oil for anything other than dollars, or they will be taken out like Saddam Hussein who tried to sell his oil in Euros in 2000. They tried to kill Hugo Chavez when he tried to trade his oil for other currencies. They are planning on attacking Iran because they setup their own oil exchange.
By He101A [Affiliate User] 1215070411 Reply Spam [+0] Moderate Up Moderate Down Removeimagine driving in the city, and a air tank in a car nearby splites with a 'loud bang' - 'Was that a terrorist attack, or did someone's air tank just exploded? Hm...' lol
good idea though, hope it works
Keep in mind that SOME type of fuel, (or energy source) is going to be needed to compress the air in the first place. Compressed air is only a FAIRLY efficient method of STORING energy. For every 10KW of energy used to compress the air you will be lucky to get 7KW of energy back out of it.
By JGMagoo [Affiliate User] 1214809021 Reply Spam [+0] Moderate Up Moderate Down RemoveWell I suppose that you will be sitting in your beautiful car in the gas station while the ugly car passes by. lol
By buddyboyofcanada [Affiliate User] 1213829475 Reply Spam [+0] Moderate Up Moderate Down Removethey also make a truck and a little hatch back.
the only thing wrong with theses are there not fast and there ugly as hell
inhabitatDOTcom/2007/06/01/tata-motors-air-car/
greencarcongressDOTcom/2007/02/tata_motors_sigDOThtml
truthoutDOTorg/article/thank-carbon-air-cars
ODDLY ENOUGH AND WOULDN'T YOU KNOW IT. ENVIRONMENTALISTS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THIS CAR Is there nothing that can satisfy environmentalists..I think they are nigglers and will find concern with every enviro effort on the planet, no matter what. They are so ridiculous that anything they do now has questionable credibility. They even hate human shit.
POSSIBLY BECAUSE THEY ARE HYPED ON THE FOLLOWING AT THIS TIME:
Tata Motors rolls out Nano, the world's cheapest car
Last Updated: Thursday, January 10, 2008 | 8:35 AM ET
The Associated Press
India's Tata Motors on Thursday unveiled its much anticipated $2,500 US car, an ultra-cheap price tag that brings car ownership into the reach of tens of millions of people.
I went on the Tata site, and saw no mention of this car. Shouldn't they be hyping the hell outta this thing?
By RunawayRed [Affiliate User] 1213790507 Reply Spam [+0] Moderate Up Moderate Down RemoveActually I think the oil producing companies do not see the time when they will be left in their desert with an oil base land that will be as useless as tits on a bull as their prayers to Allah prove they are as demented as their brethren before them. As far as they can envisage, and I'm not too far out in thinking this, but as far as they're concerned there is no replacement for their power of oil.they think they are invincible.
By buddyboyofcanada [Affiliate User] 1213727391 Reply Spam [+0] Moderate Up Moderate Down RemoveI believe this type of technolgy is the reason oil prices are rising. Big oil companies know their strangle-hold on the world is about to end and they want to make as much money as they can before it does. What a more peaceful world it will be without them running it.
By shazbot10 [Affiliate User] 1213708930 Reply Spam [+0] Moderate Up Moderate Down RemoveCome on Tata get this aircar out please!!! Fuel costs too much we need you Tata!!
By flip2mac [Affiliate User] 1213603649 Reply Spam [+0] Moderate Up Moderate Down Removewow!
DUDE
thats so cool!
maybe that can do what they did with eletric cars too where they import the motors into bodies of already made cars so say if i bought the body of a BMW i could have an air/ eletrcic powered BMW look car :D
This si so cool
rockotto727
I think there will be a huge, huge lineup for these cars and the line is growing longer....
Yeah, well. But I am going to be the first one in line for the air cars, that's for sure.
By rockotto727 [Affiliate User] 1212506070 Reply Spam [+0] Moderate Up Moderate Down Removerockotto727
Planes that fly on weed?
That's thinking rather "high" don't you think lol
very soon the will invent planes than run on weed.
By rockotto727 [Affiliate User] 1212415026 Reply Spam [+0] Moderate Up Moderate Down Removepretty girl..
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