Car that runs on compressed air gets 200 mpg..

Originally posted by ADUB77
The problem with compressed air cars is that they are not sufficient in providing the capabilities of a gas powered vehicle.

Simply put, if the technology cannot satisfy the requirements of freight trucks and planes, which consume a large majority of demand.

If the technology can not change the enitre industry then there is no point in driving an air compressed car.

I believe this statement is false. Technology doesnt have to affect every part of the industry for it to be put into use. Hell, some people dont even use computers for their business still today and they seem to operate just fine.

Yes I will agree with you a lot of the fuel charges spawn from Freight Trucks and Planes, but who's to say they cant stay with Ethanol or the Fuel they currently run on while everyone else, ie. consumers, can switch to a different form of energy. Yes the oil industry will be in an uproar, but that just means they have to close some plants, reform their ideas, withdrawal less oil from the earth in order to supply the needs of the vehicles and machinery that cannot be converted. It just means that oil companies wont have their surplus of money to continue expanding their businesses to other countries and possibly start wars to control the oil.

I noticed that the comparative analysis used the term "at the wheel" to compare the efficiencies of the different techs. That to me says they left out the details of the power consumption during the filling of the tanks. Also the cars weigh from half to a sixth of what some hybrids weigh. The question would be how efficient would a hybrid powerplant be in an MDI vehicle.

I wish there was a way to become oil free and rid our dependence on it. However, as you can see from population charts, oil has allowed many people to survive/thrive.

There simply is no way to sustain 7 billion people without oil

For example, Lithium Ion battery cars are great...but lithium is a commodity mined from the earth just like oil, and there is no infinite supply. Air compression, how much oil does it take to run a generator to compress the air? How much gas did it take to even make the air tank itself? Steel doesnt just become a tank

We are dependent on oil. Bottom line. When the tap runs dry, 80% of the population ceases the capability of existence. Yes, those 80% care about change in order to survive...but the ones who are most likely to survive are the ones with the money and power, thus giving them no reason to guarantee or be responsible for our survival

And how are they going to defrost the windshield. How about AC

Okay, the last video on the car said that the whole point of using compressed air was to make a zero pollutant car. It is still running on "fuel" which is either gasoline or electricity.

It seems the benefits of such a car are few and far between if it only has a 5 mile range too. =(

The sad reality is that there are alternatives to oil. It is just that oil is the most realistic given mankind's technology. We will have to have design technology made of actual, organic material and design in it in a way that it has a plentiful feed if we really want an efficiently powered machine.

Originally posted by ADUB77
The problem with compressed air cars is that they are not sufficient in providing the capabilities of a gas powered vehicle.

Simply put, if the technology cannot satisfy the requirements of freight trucks and planes, which consume a large majority of demand.

If the technology can not change the enitre industry then there is no point in driving an air compressed car.

First of all, the majority of wheeled transportation in the US, UK France and Germany are personal vehicles not freight vehicles.

Second of all, there were about 20 medium haul rail freight lines in the US that ran on compressed air just fine back in the 30's and they still use compressed air mining trams in many areas.

Third of all, and this is to another poster not you that I'm quoting, the only people that really care about going from 0 to 60 in under 10 seconds are kids and redneck racing junkies. I care about getting to the grocery store. I care about getting to work. I care about going about my daily commute as inexpensively as possible and flooring it (I drive a bigass Suburban 2500 right now) to go racing to and fro is not particularly economical.

Methinks that you not only didn't read the entire thread, nor did you do any actual research on the technology before posting your opinion. Look into MDI, they have a good design. It's a little too "bubble-car" shaped for my taste...looks like a Scion on crack to me, but to each their own.

reply to post by dugstu


According to the video, it can go up to 200 miles on a tankful and up to 60 miles per hour. They don't say how many gallons a tank holds, and they don't say that they're counting all the tanks that can be fit on one car as one tank. And they don't tell you that the top speed is half as fast when the air tanks are half empty. Do they keep counting miles until it can no longer crawl another foot?

As for using the engine to compress its own air supply, that is total BS. That's like using a gasoline engine to create its own gasoline? Why do I bother to answer these stupid perpetual motion threads?

This video actually made me laugh out loud.


Wind-to-Wheel Energy Assessment

The air powered car is massively worse than the electric car by a factor of three or more in terms of fuel economy. Given the electric car is is 1.5 to 2.5 times more efficient than a gasoline powered car, this makes the air powered car dramatically worse than even current petroleum powered cars regarding fuel economy, sustainability and environmental impact. In other words the air-powered car is the exact opposite of what we should be doing, as it is worse, not better than conventional vehicles, and far inferior to electric vehicles. The infrastructure would require a massive investment as you would require grid upgrades (given air-powered cars are extremely inefficient), as well as compressors.

reply to post by baddmove


ROFL . The first video states that maybe air powered cars will compress air to power themselves. That's like saying hooking up a generator to a battery that powers an electric motor that spins the generator will create an unlimited source of energy. Completely and utterly retarded. For that to occur the compressor would need to be over 100% efficient, which is as far as we know, impossible.

The only obvious answer, in my opinion, is the electric car simply because it is more efficient than anything else. Hydrogen powered vehicles using fuel cells with hydrogen generation using high-temperature electrolysis could be similar, but that technology isn't here yet. The EV is, and as production increases, the costs should come down. Toyota has found a way to almost eliminate rare-earth metals inside electric motors. And battery technology is always improving.

reply to post by C0bzz


Watch this video...it even shows a small pick up truck..

This is mostly a question. Those tanks would contain a considerable amount of pressure. To me it seems safety would be of major concern here. If the new Chevy volt batteries catch fire so easily [2 in recent weeks after accidents] then it occurred to me that new technology is not being fully tested in terms of safety.
what would be the effect of one of these huge tanks if the were full, and were to rupture?
Seems to me those things would go off like a missile. As Technology increases so do safety concerns. I feel uneasy enough sitting on 18 gallons of gasoline in protected tanks. I would be even more concerned about the amount of pressure in those tanks should they take a direct hit.
Any thoughts on safety?
DH

MDI motors and TATA were both working on air powered hybrids at one point. Unfortunately Tata has abandoned it's plans for an air powered vehicle to be marketed in india.

With that being said though there is remarkable progress coming out of Australia from a man named Angel Di pietro. HIs Engineair compressed air motors are benchmarking at 94% efficient, and can work even with low air pressure taking just 1 psi of air pressure to run the motor.

Personally I think a Dipietro motor combined with a nice ligthweight body (maybe something like the aptera) could actually work and be a winner. Especially if it were done right. Heck I might even try to score a developer kit when engineair starts distributing test motors.
Engineair motors

reply to post by Control


maybe im reading this wrong, but if you honestly cared about grabbing groceries as cheaply and as economically as possible and commute to work... you would not be driving a big ass suburban 2500.

the mdi might be good for you though.. but i hardly believe 75hp is going to move 20tons worth of goods across the country, let alone a passenger jet.

come to think about it maybe they can do it over 20 trips lol, if you ignore the economical factor.