Finally the car that runs on air is hitting the Indian roads by 2008 by our own TATAs.. This wont be a perfectly environment friendly as electricity is used to compress the air.. but if efforts are made to attain the electricity by alternate sources like wind energy or solar energy which are pollution-less then it will be a perfectly sustainable, no pollution emission car, and could do wonders in future.The good news is the car will be priced around three and a half lakh and gives a mileage of 300kms for a refill of 90Rs.
I have a idea but don't know how much its viable.. it goes something like this the compressed air which passes through the piston and comes out still has some energy in the form of pressure which could be re utilized if a compressor pump be placed in the car it self and probably use solar energy to run it.. Then it will run as long as possible..
This is about the piston used and complete design..
U can also see the video aired on cnn ibn about the tatas having partnered with them at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_i3aMz7q1w
There is article in yahoo greens http://green.yahoo.com/index.php?q=node/315 this will give more info
By Bob Ewing
The world's first commercial compressed air-powered vehicle is rolling towards the production line. The Air car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre, will be built by India's largest automaker, Tata Motors.
The Air Car uses compressed air to push its engine's pistons. It is anticipated that approximately 6000 Air Cars will be cruising the streets of India by 2008. If the manufacturers have no surprises up their exhaust pipes the car will be practical and reasonably priced. The CityCat model will clock out at 68 mph with a driving range of 125 miles.
Refueling is simple and will only take a few minutes. That is, if you live nearby a gas station with custom air compressor units. The cost of a fill up is approximately $2.00. If a driver doesn't have access to a compressor station, they will be able to plug into the electrical grid and use the car's built-in compressor to refill the tank in about 4 hours.
The compressed air technology is basically just a way of storing electrical energy without the need for costly, heavy, and occasionally toxic batteries. So, in a sense, this is an electric car. It just doesn't have an electric motor.
But don't let anyone tell you this is an "emissions free" vehicle. Sure, the only thing coming out of the tailpipe is air. But, chances are, fossil fuels were burned to create the electricity. In India, that mostly means coal. But the carbon emissions per mile of these things still far outdoes any gasoline car on the market.
Unfortunately, the streets of North America may never see the Air Car, though; it's light-weight, glued-together fiberglass construction might not do so well in our crash tests. However, that does not mean the Air car is confined to the sub-continent. Nègre has signed deals to bring its design to 12 more countries, including Germany, Israel and South Africa.
And this isn't the last we'll hear of the technology. The folks making the Air Car are already working on a hybrid version that would use an on-board, gasoline-powered compressor to refill the air tanks when they run low. Negre says that technology could easily squeeze a cross country trip out of one tank of gasoline.
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