Posted on 02/22/2005 3:21:25 PM PST by goldstategop
These are no ordinary cars. Power comes from fresh air stored in reinforced carbon-fiber tanks beneath the chassis. Air is compressed to 4,500 pounds per square inch — about 150 times the pressure of the typical car tire. The air is fed into four cylinders where it expands, driving specially designed pistons. About 25 horsepower is generated.
Though technical problems are being worked out, company officials say the car is capable of 70 mph and a 120-mile range under normal city conditions, performance that is comparable to electric cars.
Critics say the car has had trouble living up to its range projections. But company officials say they are trying to overcome that by warming the stored air.
Recharging the onboard tanks takes about four hours using the car's small compressor, which can be plugged into any wall outlet. Gas stations equipped with special air pumps can replenish the tanks in about three minutes. Company officials say the oil only needs to be changed every 31,000 miles.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
(Denny Crane: "There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News.")
BUMP
Hey, strap a bomb to your butt, why don't you?
Wonder what happens when these cars get a few years of salt corrosion and then get in an accident?
I'm still waiting for an engine like on Back to The Future that runs on garbage. Then I'd have a reason to buy books from Al Franken.
Interesting to see what happens whenb an air tank with 4,500 psi pressure gets hit by another car going 70mph.
Oh sure, it's possible. But the energy from the wall (to compress the air) has to come from somewhere. So you'll just be burning more oil or coal in a factory. Energy trade-off.
Honestly, I wouldn't trust a French engineer. =P
---ah yes--compressing air, of course, requires no energy----
I'd like to see that thing get in a wreck. Can we outfit all NASCAR with these so we can watch the whole thing blow u[ all at once? Then maybe I'd watch.
Interesting to see what happens whenb an air tank with 4,500 psi pressure gets hit by another car going 70mph.
Be even more interesting to hear it!!!
And, for God's sake, don't tell me the great supplies of compressed air are located in the Middle East...if that is the case, I caste my vote for bovine methane engines.
(Denny Crane: "There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News.")
Isn't 4500 PSI about what we see in SCUBA tanks?
What will it be called, the FRT?
A loy-uh descends from on high and says to the air tank "victims", "I can make it so youze can live on Eezy Street fuh life, dahling..."
Jaques and Jean are put-putting around in their air-compression cars, and have a minor fender-bender. Suddenly, both of their air-compression engines slip from their broken engine mounts and WHEEEESHHHHHH!!! shoot into the air! One comes down on a school, collapsing the poorly-constructed roof! Another lands on a police station! Alas, the French government thinks it is Islamic terrorists, and immediatelly launch on...Israel! Which promptly responds, wiping France from the map! The End!
I know gasoline is bad but it wont explode with one ruptured tank.
Air-powered car ping.
25 hp
just a bit more than my WheelHorse lawn tractor
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