We're going to need a bigger car.
Posted on 01/23/2013 2:21:05 AM PST by rawhide
•Peugeot Citroen invents technology for air car ready for the market by 2016 •'Hybrid Air' engine system runs on petrol and air, instead of electricity •Company predicts 'Hybrid Air' to achieve 117 miles per gallon by 2020 French car giant PSA Peugeot Citroen believes it can put an air- powered vehicle on the road by 2016.
Its scientists say it will knock 45 per cent off fuel bills for an average motorist. And when driving in towns and cities costs could be slashed by as much as 80 per cent because the car will be running on air for four-fifths of the time.
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.
The revolutionary new ‘Hybrid Air’ engine system – the first to combine petrol with compressed air – is a breakthrough for hybrid cars because expensive batteries will no longer be needed.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Great concept, if the car could only make it 117 miles without requiring a visit to the mechanic.
Not completely adiabatic, but you insulate the storage tanks and tubing.
But will the average motorist be able to afford one ??? Don't see any mention of the price but I'm guessing not...
Citroen and Renault.......
Two reason why the French are known for their wines.
Just remember to take along a air mattress hand pump for those long drives.
Thanks rawhide.
“...reuse all the energy lost when slowing down or breaking...” I don’t think so. There will be leaks. There well be friction. There will be heating of the fluid (air) during compression that then bleeds away... The real question is, even with all these losses, can they make the system more efficient than anelectrical regenerative braking system? Oh, being lighter, smaller, cheaper, safer, and longer lasting would be nice too.
Part of the headline, but no room for it here on FR.
[The process also condenses a LOT of water out of the compressed air...]
[...running parallel to the exhaust.]
Perhaps placing the compressed air tank next to a heated source solves that problem.
We're going to need a bigger car.
Don't worry. It's all vaporware anyway.
A true free lunch. The weight of batteries is eliminated. Exploding gas cylinders are a concern, but the tanks will probably be constructed from fiberglass. Fiberglass tanks puncture and burst, but they don't produce shrapnel, like metal tanks. Could be a great urban vehicle.
Peugeot 508
But don’t forget that the weight of batteries is eliminated. That’s a lot of weight. But yeah, the 117 mph claim is hard to believe.
All of my cars, since my ‘57 Chevy, ran on “petrol and air”.
But, they each weighed more and were less fragile than a 10oz. bag of chips.
Air is not a fuel. The car really runs on whatever fuel is used to power the compressor (coal, natural gas, nuclear, etc.) Air is not the fuel...it’s an energy storage system like a battery.
lol...my Ford Expedition sh*t one of these this morning...
This is what's left of a man's garage after he bumped into a scuba tank while parking. From the 1/5/2011 Fayetteville Observer...
"A scuba tank explosion in a west Fayetteville home injured a nationally known videographer and his wife, who is a photographer for The Fayetteville Observer. Rick Allen bumped into a cannister of compressed oxygen in the couple's garage around 11:30 p.m. Monday, knocking it to the ground. The explosion was so strong that it blew out a wall between the garage and a bathroom, where Allen's wife, Cindy Burnham, was brushing her teeth. Allen was in critical condition Tuesday at UNC Hospitals' Jaycee Burn Center, a spokesman said. Burnham was treated for facial cuts at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center and released.
Matt Blashfield, a neighbor on Partridge Court, was watching television at home when he heard an incredibly loud blast. "At first, I thought it was Fort Bragg," he said, "but a millisecond later, I said 'no way.' " Blashfield went to the scene where a garage door was blown into the yard, along with bumpers from the couple's vehicles. One of Allen's hands was severed by the blast, but he used a garden hose with his other hand to douse flames from the flash fire."
Bottom line, there's a helluva lot of explosive power in an air tank which requires just a puncture to release.
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