MDI’s OneCAT
Posted on 03/30/2007 7:17:49 PM PDT by Rick_Michael
A car with an air-compressed engine will be able to drive around 124 miles or eight hours for just under $2.
The OneCAT, created by Moteur Development International (MDI) Founder Guy Nègre, can reach a speed of 68 mph and can cover about 124 miles, or eight hours of travel, which is more than double the road coverage of an electric car. When recharging the tank, the car needs to connect to an outlet for three to four hours or attach to an air pump at a gas station for two minutes.
Economy and the ecological benefits are the main advantages for the client since the car´s maintenance cost is 10 times less than that of a gasoline-powered car.
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The vehicle (www.theaircar.com) gets its power from 90 cubic meters of compressed air stored in fiber tanks. The expansion of air pushes the pistons and creates movement. The atmospheric temperature re-heats the engine and increases the road coverage. The air conditioning system makes use of the expelled cold air. Due to the absence of combustion and the fact there is no pollution, the oil change (one liter of vegetable oil) is only necessary every 31,000 miles.
At the moment, MDI has four models, a car, a taxi (five passengers), a pick-up truck, and a van. The final selling price will be $10,800 (£5,500).
MDI, founded in Luxembourg, based in the south of France, with commercial offices in Barcelona, has researched and developed the Air Car over 10 years, and the technology has more than 30 international patents.
MDI already signed with 50 factories in Europe, America, and Asia. The company is offering 20 licenses in the U.K. as exclusive manufacturing areas for cars as well as offering other licenses in the nautical and public transport sectors.
The company just signed a deal with Tata Motors in India to develop a new and cost-saving technology for applications for the Indian market.
The company is initially looking to produce 3,000 cars each year, with 70 staff working one eight-hour shift a day.
MDI developed two technologies to meet different needs. One is the single energy compressed air engines, and the other is dual energy compressed air plus fuel engines
The single energy engines will be available in Minicats and Citycats. These engines are for use in the city use, where the maximum speed is lower and the need for an environmentally safer car is greater.
The duel energy engine, on the other hand, can see use in the city, but also the open road. The engines will work exclusively with compressed air while it is running under 50 km/h in urban areas. When the car hits speeds over 50 km/h, the engines will switch to fuel mode. The engine will be able to use gasoline, gas oil, bio diesel, gas, liquidized gas, ecological fuel, and alcohol.
The engine types will be available with two, four, and six cylinders. When the air tanks are empty, the driver will be able to switch to fuel mode, thanks to the car’s on board computer.
This engine (for more information, click on www.theaircar.com/howitworks.html) has four two-stage pistons, i.e. eight compression and/or expansion chambers. They have two functions: to compress ambient air and refill the storage tanks; and to make successive expansions (reheating air with ambient thermal energy) thereby approaching isothermic expansion.
Its steering wheel is equipped with a 5kW electric moto-alternator. This motor acts as the:
No clutch is necessary. The engine is idle when the car is stationary, and the vehicle starts via the magnetic plate which re-engages the compressed air. The electric motor allows for the parking capabilities.
For related information, go to www.isa.org/manufacturing_automation.
Watch video below
It's not just one article. This car has been looked at by dozens of news agencies...
So they've looked at is, so what?
hundreds of potential buyers.
First, what is your source? Second, who were they buyers, were you one of them? Did they buy?
..dozens of governments have reviewed the car for potential purchase..
And did they buy it? I am not sure I even believe that Mexico City bought it.
.If it doesn't work it will fail.
Yup.
But, so far the companies involved are growing and taking orders for purchases.
Link? Which companies? How do you know they are growing? How do you know they are taking purchases?
The biggest problem with them is you don't want to be in a wreck in one.
They're essentially aluminum tubing frames covered in fiber and foam.
http://www.theaircar.com/tecno.html#Car
The cars weigh 750 kg. My 2001 Sonoma weighs about 1700 kg.
I'm actually on their waiting list, but it would never be anything but a commuter/short errand car for me and it would never see a highway.
Have you ever been to Mexico? Yikes get out of the way!
"Or what if you're generating your own electricity in some fashion in the near future. How would that change the equation of why the air car is a stupid idea?"
The air car isn't a stupid idea. It's actually pretty cool. I like the mechanical simplicity and low initial cost and low maintenance cost. It's not the magic bullet for weaning us from Islamo-Petroleum since it is energy inefficient. If you were rolling your own energy at home, you would have to produce more than if you were chaging batteries in your electric car.
What makes the air car idea viable is if it's much cheaper to buy and maintain then the aircars inefficiency could be offset by a lower cost per mile.
"90 cubic meters of compressed air stored in fiber tanks"
In a car?????
How much energy is in that 90 cubic meters? The same as in a regular tank of gas?
A perpetual motion machine doesnt threaten people either, but people would question it.
I question the obvious unviability of compressed air as a significant onboard energy source. How much compressed air do you need to substitute for a 20 gallon tank engine? How far can it go on compressed air alone?
"They can't defy physics if they are in production, can they?"
Remember the phrase 'your mileage may vary'?
"Of course you can make a car that runs on compressed air. That is not the part the defies physics. I'm sorry, and I mean no personal offense, but you clearly just "want to believe", and so you believe. The claims made in this article are outrageous, and anyone looking at them with an open mind and a basic understanding of physics sees that in the first few sentences."
I'm with you on that... what got me was the statement "The Series 34 CAT´s engines can be equipped with and run on dual energies - fossil fuels and compressed air - ..."
... and then I 'got it'. IT RUNS EFFECTIVELY BECAUSE IT REALLY IS JUST A SMALL GAS ENGINE AT HEART. The compressed air part is just a non-very-important add-on energy storage to help it make bogus environmental claims.
"Also, they are "offering" 20 licenses. First of all, offering them doesn't mean anything. "
It means they are making money from licenses and not production. ;-)
Now that I am thinking about it the best solution is probably a hybrid with the heat from a small gasoline or diesel engine used to heat the compressed air.
About efficiency. A gasoline engine is very inefficient less than 20% or so. A coal fired electrical plant can reach about 40% efficiency and the price per Coal BTU is much cheaper than Gasoline, apx 40%. So the cost of electricity with the same energy value of gasoline is about 1/4 the cost (including transmission costs).
If we had a perfect battery to store the electricity in, electric cars would be the way to go : ) We don't though. Compressing air is not very efficient because it produces a lot of heat (Remember the heat that is needed to help it expand?) but if it was used to heat your house then it might not be that bad.
The bottom line is that a compressed air car should be much cheaper to operate and run, it will just be very slow.
"IT RUNS EFFECTIVELY BECAUSE IT REALLY IS JUST A SMALL GAS ENGINE AT HEART"
And with 4300 psi air pushing the pistons, it should really scoot.
Look at the date of the article you linked....
Looks like the work of two individual inventors. I guess all the expensive corporate R&D and government funded research is no match.
Compressing air is very inefficient. The kitty-car sounds like an early April Fool's joke.
You are just being a nuisance and a heckler, Back up your objections, if you can.
From Feb 1998, note the much more outrageous claim:
Compressed air car
Guy Negre's invention has been chosen to run in Mexico
from next month . These cars run on compressed air which
can be refuelled in 3 minutes at petrol stations using electric power. The car runs for about 600 miles at 60mph before needing a refill which can be done at home with an electric compressor with electricity worth $2 .The engine is much lighter than in electric cars and is negatively polluting as the air filters remove in coming polluted air while the car itself produces no pollutants.
Here is a paste from the article:
"Its steering wheel is equipped with a 5kW electric moto-alternator. This motor acts as the:
* Motor to compress air
* Starting motor
* Alternator for recharging the battery
* Electric moderator/brake
* Temporary power supply (e.g. for parking)"
Dang, I don't think I could produce 5kw by spinning a steering wheel. This vehicle is for the serious bodybuilder only.
"My point, in case you missed it, was that a private company would loose it's pants if the millions it spent on Research and development was for an idea that losses in the market place. Pay attention, free market capitalism being taught here."
I made money shorting VC-funded companies during the internet bubble, including multiple 'energy' companies that touted claims that had dubious scientific merit ... bring it on!
4500 p.s.i. I wouldn't want to be within a half mile of that tank if it splits a seam!
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