Compressed air is one of the most inefficient ways to store and transmit energy. There is a great amount of energy lost through heat when compressing air. I’m sure this same car run on a 2-stoke engine would be more efficient.
I agree with you that compressed air is a very inefficient energy storage medium. But since the objective for India is to get air pollution under control in their cities I don’t think that a 2-stroke engine is the way to go. 2-strokes are very polluting because of the unburned fuel that is exhausted on each cycle of the piston.
2-strokes are inefficient and dirty compared to 4-strokes but do have a power to weight advantage.
I was thinking that spinning a carbon fiber disk would store more energy.
Well-designed co-generation could mitigate some of the energy inefficiency.
For instance, the waste heat from compressing the air at a central fleet facility could be used to heat water for washing the vehicles.
Your post about the inefficiency is 100% correct.
From the article, “One tank lasts over 125 miles (200 km) and takes only two minutes to fill up again at an average price of just one euro per fill.”
I call Bull sh—, on their claim of 125 miles!