Air Cars
Air Car
The Other Electric Car: Cars that will run on air. Exciting new times are on the horizon
Next Spring, if you pass through the main air terminals in either Paris or Amsterdam, you may find MDI’s AirPod vehicles scurrying about, hauling passengers between Air France/KLM gates.
Capable of a top speed of 43 mph and powered by MDI’s 4 kw (5.45 hp) compressed air motor, the 3-4 passenger three-wheeler will have a range of upwards of 130+ miles when traveling at 15-20 miles per hour on the equivalent of less than $1 worth of electricity.
Inspired by Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë’s call for a low-cost, zero emission electric carshare vehicle [See Paris' Electric Car Autolib Takes Shape] Nice-based MDI — originators of the original AirCar — adapted its technology to meet the challenge.
The composite plastic body car measures a mere 82 inches in length, 63 inches wide and 79 inches high. There are two versions: a passenger model weighting 485 lbs and a cargo version at 462 lbs. The cargo version has a storage capacity of 39 cubic feet.
Entrance and egress from the vehicle happens through the front and rear. The driver sits facing forward while any passengers will sit facing the rear. According to Shiva Vencat, MDI’s representative for the Americas, three smaller adults can sit abreast in the rear, or more comfortably two adults and child.
Steering is accomplished with a “guide-by-wire” joystick mounted on the right. The turning radius of the vehicle is 75 inches. The two front wheels are small and close-set under the vehicle.
The 46-gallon carbon fiber compressed air tank can be pressurized in under two minutes at up to 4,500 psi using a commercial compressor.
ADDENUM: Home refilling would be accomplished using a small air compressor, and not using the car’s air motor as previously reported. Refilling would take an estimated three hours and if it’s like most home shop-type compressors, it would be noisy; a clear advantage for batteries, which recharge silently.
While the jury is still out as to the relative energy efficiency of using compressed air as an energy storage medium when compared to electric car batteries, the AirPod does have one critical advantage: its compressed air tank should last longer and cost less than chemical batteries.
Filed under: Changing World
The last paragraph kinda lists the possible drawback in terms of efficiency. You still need to use some sort of energy to compress the air and basically ’store’ potential energy into the compressed air ‘battery’.
That energy would probably still be derived from a hydro/coal/petroleum/nuclear energy source, and the efficiency will determine how well its converted from one to the other.
My feelings are mixed about the car.
It’s sounds interesting. The only problem that I have with cars like that is if there is a problem it, it’s not going to be easy for people to take to a mechanic. In general, that is the problem that I have with most of these modern day cars.
I heard about these cars a few months ago. Now I know what they look like. I’m not sure if the technology will grow to use this for standard cars but for college campus and warehouses and golf course it may work.
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