Posted on 02/26/2014 1:07:24 PM PST by A Formerly Proud Canadian
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Compressed air has been used since the 19th century to power mine locomotives and trams in cities such as Paris (via a central, city-level, compressed air energy distribution system), and was previously the basis of naval torpedo propulsion.
What’s old is new, again.
how much energy does it take to compress the air?
That is natural gas powered and runs on grass.
I would like to see how far the air tank could drive you if you started out fully charged. I can never get a feel how big of storage a hybrid has other than the Chevy Volt's 40 miles on electricity.
It's an interesting idea. With the air boost when accelerating you don't need as big of engine as you would otherwise, thus gain efficiency that way. Also it has regenerative braking so you at least retain some of your energy which would otherwise be lost as heat in the brake pads and rotors.
I know him! The famous crepitator, right? Fltulist? I was emulated him in the dorm of my prep school.
“But is it stealthy and how many missiles can it carry? “
No missiles., but lots of bombs.
But carrying around an engine big enough for decent acceleration is also inefficient. A smaller engine for cruising plus the hybrid system to give a kick to acceleration can be more efficient than a big engine.
You are correct!
This is a hydraulic hybrid rebranded because hydraulics isn’t sexy.
The problem is that all regenerative breaking systems add weight, complexity and require additional energy and materials to manufacture and eventually service. Those have to be considered and they are the things that proponents always leave out as they are all net loss.
The added weight means more energy is needed to move the car than if it was not there. And so little energy is regenerated that you cannot come close to getting a reasonable tradeoff.
Compressing air as a means of regenerative braking is fine, but it still isn’t efficient if they have to use the engine to compress air to run at low speeds.
Keeping smelly, visible pollution out of urban areas and dumping it out in the sticks makes libtards feel good.
Sounds like a science fair project.
GM, Toyota, Honda, Ford would have offered one years ago, if it worked.
Lewis and Clark left Pittsburgh - where I live - armed with air rifles. The demonstrated one on an island in the Ohio river near the city.
At least one person suffered serious injury from the bullet.
The weapons were useful for hunting but not all that accurate. At least they didn’t waste powder.
Great ideas but not always a practical solution.
half a roof, no doors, 1/4 of a hood for the engine; no seat for the driver: Sorry I won’t buy it. too cold and not rain proof.
But it’s French!
Wasn’t it Renault that came out with a rear engine air cooled car?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.