Sorry of this has been posted previously.
An Air Car You Could See in 2009: ZPM’s 106 MPG Compressed-Air Hybrid : Gas 2.0
The approach is interesting for a couple of reasons. The cars use compressed air, but it is fed into a 4-6 cylinder piston engine, which produces the mechanical energy that drives the wheels. Think of the "engine" as just a pump in reverse--it's just turning the high-pressure air into mechanical energy to drive the wheels.
Below 35 MPH it uses the compressed air straight from the 4500 PSI carbon-fiber tank. At speeds above this, it burns fuel (gasoline, diesel, propane, natural gas--whatever) to heat the air enroute to the motor to give it more pressure. There's no burning of fuel in the engine itself.
The car produces zero emissions below 35 mph, and above 35 MPH reportedly produces half the CO2 per mile as a Prius.
With a full tank of air and 8 gallons of fuel the car can go over 800 miles.
The car's small onboard compressor can be plugged in at home, it will refill the air tank in about 4 hours at a cost of $2 in electricity. When stations become available, it can refill from a high pressure connection in 3 minutes.
Of course, the car might not be truly zero emission, depending on the type of fuel used to produce electricity for your home.
Still, it's got the advantage of very long range (like a hybrid), very low emissions, and economical operation. I especially like the fact that it avoids the chemical battery and all the issues that accompany it (cost, heavy weight, limited lifespan, toxic production chain, recycleability issues, etc). It also offers an easy route to alternative fuels (burning a fuel in an Otto-cycle or Diesel engine places some fairly stringent demands on the fuel especially regarding pre-detonation characteristics. This car should be able to burn a much wider variety of fuels). It also doesn't absolutely require special infrastructure at remote places (e.g. high-voltage electricity, etc), so these facilities can be built gradually over time. It avoids the chicken/egg problem we often have with new vehicle technology and supporting infrastructure.
The major challenges I can see are safety (not too worried about the carbon fiber tank, but just the very light structure of the car), and acceleration/performance. The web site says the 6 seat version weighs less than 1900 pounds and that the motor puts out 75 horsepower (enough to get it up to 96 MPH--but my guess is that it takes about 2 minutes to get there. But, hey, almost all of the VW minibuses had engines smaller than 75 HP). They claim the vehicle will be safe--air bags, ABS, and a "tubular frame" that will be strong. We'll see--I want to see it hit by that S-Class Mercedes that hit the Smart Car in the UTube video).
I also wonder why they are using piston motors for this application, as a Wankel (e.g. "rotary") would offer a lot of advantages and their efficiency as pumps is well known.
Expensive gas is going to produce a lot of options without need for any additional government incentives.
An Air Car You Could See in 2009: ZPM’s 106 MPG Compressed-Air Hybrid : Gas 2.0
The approach is interesting for a couple of reasons. The cars use compressed air, but it is fed into a 4-6 cylinder piston engine, which produces the mechanical energy that drives the wheels. Think of the "engine" as just a pump in reverse--it's just turning the high-pressure air into mechanical energy to drive the wheels.
Below 35 MPH it uses the compressed air straight from the 4500 PSI carbon-fiber tank. At speeds above this, it burns fuel (gasoline, diesel, propane, natural gas--whatever) to heat the air enroute to the motor to give it more pressure. There's no burning of fuel in the engine itself.
The car produces zero emissions below 35 mph, and above 35 MPH reportedly produces half the CO2 per mile as a Prius.
With a full tank of air and 8 gallons of fuel the car can go over 800 miles.
The car's small onboard compressor can be plugged in at home, it will refill the air tank in about 4 hours at a cost of $2 in electricity. When stations become available, it can refill from a high pressure connection in 3 minutes.
Of course, the car might not be truly zero emission, depending on the type of fuel used to produce electricity for your home.
Still, it's got the advantage of very long range (like a hybrid), very low emissions, and economical operation. I especially like the fact that it avoids the chemical battery and all the issues that accompany it (cost, heavy weight, limited lifespan, toxic production chain, recycleability issues, etc). It also offers an easy route to alternative fuels (burning a fuel in an Otto-cycle or Diesel engine places some fairly stringent demands on the fuel especially regarding pre-detonation characteristics. This car should be able to burn a much wider variety of fuels). It also doesn't absolutely require special infrastructure at remote places (e.g. high-voltage electricity, etc), so these facilities can be built gradually over time. It avoids the chicken/egg problem we often have with new vehicle technology and supporting infrastructure.
The major challenges I can see are safety (not too worried about the carbon fiber tank, but just the very light structure of the car), and acceleration/performance. The web site says the 6 seat version weighs less than 1900 pounds and that the motor puts out 75 horsepower (enough to get it up to 96 MPH--but my guess is that it takes about 2 minutes to get there. But, hey, almost all of the VW minibuses had engines smaller than 75 HP). They claim the vehicle will be safe--air bags, ABS, and a "tubular frame" that will be strong. We'll see--I want to see it hit by that S-Class Mercedes that hit the Smart Car in the UTube video).
I also wonder why they are using piston motors for this application, as a Wankel (e.g. "rotary") would offer a lot of advantages and their efficiency as pumps is well known.
Expensive gas is going to produce a lot of options without need for any additional government incentives.
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