Tata Motors to introduce Air Car

Tata Motors to introduce Air Car

trak.in

The MiniCAT which is a simple, light urban car, with a tubular chassis that is glued not welded and a body of fiberglass powered by compressed air. Microcontrollers are used in every device in the car, so one tiny radio transmitter sends instructions to the lights, indicators etc.

There are no keys - just an access card which can be read by the car from your pocket. According to the designers, it costs less than 50 rupees per 100Km (about a tenth that of a petrol car). Its mileage is about double that of the most advanced electric car (200 to 300 km or 10 hours of driving), a factor which makes a perfect choice in cities where the 80% of motorists drive at less than 60Km. The car has a top speed of 105 kmph. Refilling the car will, once the market develops, take place at adapted petrol stations to administer compressed air. In two or three minutes, and at a cost of approximately 100 rupees, the car will be ready to go another 200-300 kilometers.

(visit the link for the full news article)

The temperature of the clean air expelled by the exhaust pipe is between 0-15 degrees below zero, which makes it suitable for use by the internal air conditioning system with no need for gases or loss of power.

So, extra cool for free

It does take energy (oil or electricity) to compress the air, but at least it will cost very less. And this is the start of the tech. Things get even cheaper when mass produced.

Using solar power or wind power to run the compressor when the car is parked will reduce the cost and pollution further.

trak.in
(visit the link for the full news article)

wow.

imagine mass urban centers with nothing but these cars.

i'm talking like hong kong, nyc, la, beijing etc

and 0-15 below 0 air? this could reduce the temps of cities like melbourne, phoenix etc by a noticeable margin

Interesting, I wonder if we will see this in the states... Probably not.. They will go on some kick on how there is no car out there that can get alot of gas mileage bla bla...

Anyway nice car...

I first saw one of these being developed in France.
People said it was no good because of the fossil fuels used to compress the air or something.
Maybe tata bought it from the French guy or just designed there own.
Another problem was the safety concern of driving at 100kmh sitting on top of tanks of compressed air.

[edit on 28-7-2008 by The_Devil]

reply to post by The_Devil


As opposed to tanks of gasoline, hydrogen,....? Aren't all of the "fuel" options, in theory, a bit dangerous to sit atop of?

I hope this makes the light of day.

Its is not dangerous I would say. Anything can be used as something dangerous. Its all about taking neccessary precautions.

this is never going to hit fox news for sure... at this time this car is the most resonable solution, even if it takes gas to power the compreser i believe we can develope compressors that run off of biofuels blah blah. but just like the other new car tech. it will be hardest to replace the whole oil infastructure. we as a people will have to be willing to make sacrifices in order to make a change. i also like the idea of the air conditioning exaust, overall i'd scrap a car run on gas for this little piece of work anyday. good post

If they could make these cars with 0-60's of 3.5 seconds, top speeds of 200mph and that look ass sexy as an Aston Martin or an Alfa Romeo then maybe i just might one day be just about slightly maybe possibly (though not likely) be interested.

I am a pro-Clarksonite and until Top Gear present an awesome elcetric or air powered car then these companies can stick them.

www.popularmechanics.com...

Here is a Popular Mechanics Link about the car

I have a softspot for the electric and hydrogen combo, but I have to admit my ears perk at this tech. With carbon fibre being mass produced this thing has potential, as it's a low temperature system which is way more efficient than combustion. The engine blocks, which are the same as engines for combustion engines minus the ignition components, which are replaced with air valves, can be made of alluminium or other light metals. Perhaps even of carbon fibre in the longrun, who knows? And these things can be home fueled off the electric grid or renewables. This has great potential. I don't know how far up this will scale, but my guess is something like the Loremo (google it) would marry with a compressed air drivetrain brilliantly. Or even a carbon fibre version of the smart car.

I think we are on the verge of a new age in mobility, born out of the ashes of peak oil. Exciting times.

[edit on 28-7-2008 by Zepherian]

More like a new age of boring slow cars.

mmm what would i prefer, an ugly little slow thing like a g-wizz for example, or a 450bhp Shelby GT500?

Or a car that runs on air and goes about as fast as snail, or an MG ZR that looks great and is British?

Oooh, i think when i get my driving license in a few months i will happily shell out £1500 for an MG ZR, painted white with the cross of St George emblazened on the body work, white OZ alloys and chromed exhausts.

Sounds great, looks great, and above all British.

Starred and Flagged!!!!

Where is everyone???

Oh yeah, they are all still over in one of the "let's argue about who made the price of gas go up" threads....

They should be here lookin' at how awesome and viable a technology like this is!

At 8 grand???? We need to start mass producing these as soon as possible. The #1 way for the US to be secure in the world is to gain energy independence.

I am not shelling out 8000 for a slow as hell air car when i can get an MG ZR or an old Camaro for a thrid of that.

Originally posted by rocksolidbrain

The temperature of the clean air expelled by the exhaust pipe is between 0-15 degrees below zero, which makes it suitable for use by the internal air conditioning system with no need for gases or loss of power.

So, extra cool for free

So if they sell enough of them, the cold exhaust should help reverse global warming

Sorry, you'll never see me in one of those.

reply to post by declassified

Originally posted by declassified
this is never going to hit fox news for sure...

Bullcrap. They had an article on the Tata Nano last February.

I'll bet they'll report on it within the week. Why wouldn't they?

Your ignorance is showing.

www.foxnews.com...

Nice option, provided its comes to fruition. This is the type of thinking idiot companies like GM and Chrysler need to embrace. Sure they have a lot of concepts but given the crap they produce and expect to sell they need to re-focus their collective efforts on better ideas such as this and more importantly make it happen.

Personally I see many western style governments balking at this. Why? Well it bites into their gas tax revenues and we all know that just won't happen. Added to which there are several economical car options (fuel wise) offered these days and govt's should be offering massive incentives for those making such purchases, especially in very densely populated major cities. That may well exist in moderation but a lot more could be done.

I also like the idea of somewhat slower vehicles given the number of arseholes driving these days. Cutting back on speed to provide safer roads might not be such a bad exchange.

brill

When i get my license and car that will be it, even if it becomes law to drive electric/air powered cars, the government will have to pry the keys of my gas guzzler out of my cold dead hands.

reply to post by full997


This thing outperforms a Ford model T, so imagine where this tech will be in a few years, since it's basically the same tech as internal combustion adapted to compressed air.

Nevermind, I'll do it for you: 250mph, 350m range, possibly more with exaust gas recompression to extend range a bit. Ferrari enzo type chassis weighing aroung 1000kg, 2 seats. Electronic aircon running off the exaust. Possibly an Oxygen afterburner overdrive system. Exciting enough for you?



[edit on 28-7-2008 by Zepherian]

reply to post by brill


The problem with the classic auto industry is they make such a ton of money on aftersale maintenance and replacement parts (because they build breaking down into the car obviously) that they are corrupted by their own business model. They literally don't know how to do it right, so it's time to embrace the new manufacturers and hope we can get rid of the elitists before their reverse midas touch turn yet another brilliant technology into worthless crap.