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 A Great TaTa!
.
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.
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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.