The Air Car - zero pollution and very low running costs

Gizmag ^ | 3-19-07 | Gizmag

[HangnJudge]

March 19, 2007 Many respected engineers have been trying for years to bring a compressed air car to market, believing strongly that compressed air can power a viable "zero pollution" car. Now the first commercial compressed air car is on the verge of production and beginning to attract a lot of attention, and with a recently signed partnership with Tata, India’s largest automotive manufacturer, the prospects of very cost-effective mass production are now a distinct possibility. The MiniC.A.T is a simple, light urban car, with a tubular chassis that is glued not welded and a body of fibreglass. The heart of the electronic and communication system on the car is a computer offering an array of information reports that extends well beyond the speed of the vehicle, and is built to integrate with external systems and almost anything you could dream of, starting with voice recognition, internet connectivity, GSM telephone connectivity, a GPS guidance system, fleet management systems, emergency systems, and of course every form of digital entertainment. The engine is fascinating, as is and the revolutionary electrical system that uses just one cable and so is the vehicle’s wireless control system. Microcontrollers are used in every device in the car, so one tiny radio transmitter sends instructions to the lights, indicators etc

Most importantly, it is incredibly cost-efficient to run – according to the designers, it costs less than one Euro per 100Km (about a tenth that of a petrol car). Its mileage is about double that of the most advanced electric car (200 to 300 km or 10 hours of driving), a factor which makes a perfect choice in cities where the 80% of motorists drive at less than 60Km. The car has a top speed of 68 mph.

[bmwcyle]

Just so they don't make a car that runs on beer. I don't want to decide between drinking and driving.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Zero pollution? I think not.

How does one go about compressing air in the first place?

Zero emissions vehicle perhaps. Zero pollution, no.

[Clemenza]

SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!

[NavyCanDo]

I can see this getting me to work, and maybe get the kids to baseball practice, but will it pull a boat trailer or pass the 18-wheeler on the two lane country highway with ease?

[Charles Martel]

Given the amount of pressure in the compressed air tank, anything that put a crack in the tank will mean replacing the car, the driver, the passengers, and pretty-much anything within a block of the resulting bang.

Uh-yep. Depending, of course, upon where the pressure vessel fails. If an aft-facing valve fails, the car and its occupants gould go squirting away out of control, like a punctured aerosol can. Remember the urban legend of the JATO-powered Chevy?

[HamiltonJay]

Apparently the author is unaware that the mechanical motor that will be used to compress the air will produce OZONE when its in use, and that the electricity generated to power the motor will produce other things too.

Now, overall, no doubt compressing enough air to get you 120-180 miles is going to cost you a hell of a lot less than the gas to do so. Of course I wouldn't take one of those things on the interstate, so as a commuter car for folks who actually do commute and don't sit in bumper to bumper, 70 MPH in something like that, on a road where semis are also traveling at 70 MPH is a scary enough thought to cause the loss of sphincter control.

[JoeSixPack1]

LOL! You just described an electric golf cart with two gears.

Your needs and requirements as you stated fit the bill for every alternative fuel vehicle that ever saw a production line, and they all died a lonely death.

For a larger market and economic stability from the manufacturers point of view an alternative fuel vehicle will have to match gas/diesel ease of refueling and mileage.

The concept makes economical sense, but nothing has been produced so far that the public cares for, is worthy of the money outlay, and can give a respectable day to day savings without relinquishing road safety.

[timer]

Yes, he begins engineer-quantifying but confuses acceleration(W<P)with momentum(W=P). 90% of the energy of a moving CxHx vehicle is waste heat(through tail pipe, radiator, transmission friction, wheel bearings, rolling wheel drag), ony 10% goes to compressing air in front, rarifying it behind. Thus the gum drop/fish shape pioneered by the VW bug is what's used here.

Still though, this compressed air car has to compete in the marketplace, and you have to look at the TOTAL system, ie, where the original energy COMES from, plus price to buy and maintain. Hydrogen economy proponents always mumble when you ask them THAT.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

"Still though, this compressed air car has to compete in the marketplace, and you have to look at the TOTAL system, ie, where the original energy COMES from, plus price to buy and maintain."

It is important to consider the total system. The objects of the system are also important.

To compete on price in the marketprice, the distance/dollar (both capital and operating costs) is the most important consideration.

If you're trying to preserve oil and gas as well, then using electricity from coal fired plants would probably be a solution.

If reducing CO2 emissions is the object, that probably rules out coal-fired generators (unless the CO2 is sequestered). Nuclear power would probably be the answer.

There have been discussions on other threads, about line-losses for electrical transmission. The losses seem to be quite high in some places. I suspect that those areas have relatively low-voltage transmission lines. Here, in B.C. line losses are only about 7% -- and that's for transmission over hundreds of miles.

Although there have been a lot of exaggerated claims for hydrogen-powered, or battery-electric cars -- electric power for transport has a lot of potential. It's too early to tell what the best storage medium for that electrical energy will be. Contenders include: compressed air; hydraulics; hydrogen; chemical batteries, flywheels, and capacitors.

[skinkinthegrass]

HEHEHE....finally, a useful thing a liberal can do, providing an unlimited supply hot air. :)

[CougarGA7]

68mph?

Too slow.

[marktwain]

Thanks for providing some clarification. It is very nice to see someone with a firm grasp of the concepts and facts chime in. Please continue to do so.

[Rick_Michael]

They plan to make it a hybrid of sorts, so that it may exceed speed when necessary.

[CougarGA7]

They need to double it. ;)

[Rick_Michael]

Yeah...

If it's economical, I think it will mostly be a product of Asia (ie India, China, et al.) The price of oil is too restrictive for their low-earning economies. I think we're a bit more eager for equally comparative travel...speed and capabilities.

But since they're emerging economies, they'll take whatever works. But we'll see.

[anymouse]

And how many thousand psi are the on-board tanks charged to? Kind of a nice bomb on wheels. Just don't break a high pressure line/fitting or puncture the tank or you are likely to propel something very quickly in the opposite direction.

[HangnJudge]

300 bars or 4400 psig of compressed air stored on board the vehicle. Enough to seriously give you ears a enema, but in the general range of that used in SCUBA tanks