Thursday, May 31, 2007

A Great Ta-Ta

 Air-Car Ready for Mass Production

Not here though.  They're made from the same plastic that 7-11 uses to make coffee cup caps.

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!

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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.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll take 2 of 'em.

Anonymous said...

I hope Indian cars are better than their ammunition. I have two cans of .308 ammo I bought at a gun show (live and learn). It sucks. You have to manually insert the bullets into your target with your hands. G*d I hate hearing a goblin screaming while I twist the rounds into his chest. 'course I could slam the crappy brass into the weapon, scream "BANG" while I bayonet the bastard.. but I digress.. Anyway, I hope their cars save us all from Manbearpig (I would think Manbearpig's screams would practically break my eardrums while I screwed a jagged, lumpy deformed Indian round into his chest..... If he existed...) Shit, sorry, this is about cars. I always ramble too much.

Anonymous said...

The hippies and other libtards can have that pile of crap... I need a new hood ornament for my truck, because the bicyclist just fell off. lol

Anonymous said...

Air compressors suck and blow just like the internal combustion engine and Algore. Powered with soft coal generated electricity these things may replace the rickshaw but only because the bottom two casts will all die from lung cancer.

Anonymous said...

Betcha it won't go 125 miles with all the seats occupied and 15 guys riding on the roof and hanging on the sides.
Lt. Col Gen. Tailgunner dick

MoFiZiX Gr4FiX said...

And how many carbon offsets would a greenie need to purchase in order to compensate for the electricity being used to power the air compressors? Hey Algore... Blow Me!

Anonymous said...

If they're cheap, I'll get one to keep in my van for breakdowns, in case I need to go get beer.......
Tim

Anonymous said...

root--

Thanx for the heads-up. I'll only use the POF (POS) in my 1912 Chileno (POS), instead of my Effin' Forty-nine.

I understand the powder is pretty much inert--except when it isn't.

Anonymous said...

Pakistani ammo is even worse.

You can salvage India .308 ... cull the obviously deformed rounds, and individually weigh the rest. Cull the lightest and heaviest 10%.

The rest will stay on the paper. Use the culls for malfunction drills, or sell them to someone you dislike.

Anonymous said...

Somebody on another blog pretty much destroyed this silly thing as a viable form of transportation. Something to do with the efficency of the system vis-a-vis the actual available stored energy in compressed air..

Anonymous said...

Do they come in Ferrari red or with rally stripes?

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