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The Air-Powered Car Finds A Future Home In India |
12 Comments |
| By Michael d'Estries in Transportation, Travel | January 14, 2008 | ||
Viva la France! French engineer Guy Nègre has been working on the concept of an air-powered car for the past 15 years. Thanks to a new contract with India’s main car manufacturer, Tata Motors, Nègre’s technology is about to reap the benefits of a major corporate backer; not to mention access to a massive, growing market. Geeks Are Sexy lays out the details on the tech,
“The principle that makes this car work is very simple. Instead of using gas to create an explosion and make the pistons move, the vehicle’s engine is powered via three compressed air tanks located under its chassis. Environmentally speaking, this means all that goes out the exhaust pipe is cold, pure air, which can even be used as an air-conditioning source on a hot summer day.”
Put it all together and you get a vehicle with a top speed of 110 kilometers per hour, and a range of around 300 kilometers! All that’s needed for a refuel is a compressed air station — or in case of emergencies — an outlet. An on-board air-compressor will refill the tank in about 3 hours once plugged in.
Whether this tech will ever make it to North America (whose futures seem firmly tied up in electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles) is debatable. Either way, with environmental concerns over India’s fast-growing vehicle population (especially in light of the newly announced $2,500 car), any alternative-energy technology with impact potential would be welcomed.
via geeks are sexy
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Guinnevere said,
Fantastic! This technology would never make it past the filing cabinets in the US auto industry, because it won’t enrich the big oil interests that have us all in a strangle-hold, but it’s a brilliant, clean and low-cost alternative to dirty, increasingly expensive gasoline-powered vehicles. Great to know there are people actually making ‘green’ gains in the transportation field.
nitos said,
wow.. really cool
Anotherbrick said,
Something this freaking awesome could eventually power generators supplying cheap energy to millions of impoverished people,so of course big oil will find some way to suppress it!
anon said,
*sigh* while this is truly awesome, it reminds of how corporate america is the ruling class in America. I wish that could be changed. I’ll leave at thought though, for the rest of my thoughts could land me in jail.
Cool CAT said,
Having solved most of the high pressure storage and handling problems, the main remaining disadvantages are related to the thermodynamics.
* At the supply station, compressing the air heats it, and if then directly transferred in a heated state to the vehicle storage tanks will then cool and reduce the pressure. If cooled before transfer, the energy in this heat will be lost unless sophisticated low grade heat utilization is employed (see cogeneration).
* Within the vehicle, expansion and consequent pressure reduction in the throttle or engine chills the air, reducing its effective pressure. Addition of ambient heat will increase this pressure and this addition leads to a more complex propulsion system. While an attempt was made in the Nègre system to warm the air in a long portion of the stroke at top dead center, it appears that this scheme has been abandoned due to inherent imbalances causing unacceptable levels of vibration.
* Passenger compartment heating is more difficult since the propulsion system does not provide a source of waste heat. Some form of heat pump, or more likely, an electric heater would be required.
* Limited range due to available tank technology. The air engine suffers from similar problems to hydrogen vehicles in this regard.
* Using energy to compressed air is less efficient than charging a battery with that same energy.
* Less efficient than electric motors.
* While the air engine reduces greenhouse gas emissions from the vehicle, the energy used to compress the air may not come from clean sources.
* Long refill times when compared to conventional automobiles, circa 4 Hours using a home or low-end system; a few minutes at a larger, commercial refilling station.
bulbul said,
i like it. I am thankfull to those engineers who working on this project. as an automobile i prefer this engine as worlds best adventure
dave lecuyer said,
the earth speed is 65000 mph.
the earth is rotating at 1000mph
So the question is why don”t those engineers of such world wide adventure build a electric magnetic engine. This technology would solve all of are environmental concerns.???????
It is very simple.!!!!
Dave
Devon Kubacki said,
Very intresting concept, but have you considered a self-refueling system using the air pressure generated by the speed of ther car, causing heat, energy, and constant refueling? Sure, while its not in use, it will looase that compressed air, which you just have a home compressor fill its tank up a bit to the point where the self refueling can kick in? Ity isnt a dream. Take a vent that feeds air into the current gasoline propelled cars for cooling, and simply divert the air stream directly to the fuel tank, and have a pressure compartment where it can build up pressire to enter the tank, so no excess *fuel* is lost! Problem solved, a near Perpetual energy system. Thank you.
-Devon Kubacki, 16 years of age
Jim Prescott said,
For those of you you that say no way it will work ar state it will never make here in the U.S. read here http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4251491.html?series=19
Air-Powered Car Coming to U.S. in 2009 to 2010 at Sub-$18,000, Could Hit 1000-Mile Range
Jim Prescott said,
For those of you you that say no way it will not work or state it will never make here in the U.S. read here http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4251491.html?series=19
Air-Powered Car Coming to U.S. in 2009 to 2010 at Sub-$18,000, Could Hit 1000-Mile Range
Air Powered Cars? What Else Will They Think of? : Auto Transport Blog for National Transport LLC said,
[...] description of how compressed air vehicles work, you can click here. Additionally, according to a recent article, The principle that makes this car work is very simple. Instead of using gas to create an explosion [...]
indian air said,
Wow, at current gas prices in the US, that’s like driving a car that gets almost 200 mpg. I wonder how these things would do crashing into each other (or when that 4ksi tank ruptures). Kind of reminds me of the cop car in Demolition Man.