Air car

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For other uses, see Air car (disambiguation).

The Air car is a series of cars using Compressed Air Technology currently being developed by Moteur Developpement International (MDI), a company founded by the French inventor and engineer Guy Nègre.

1 Technology
- 1.1 Emission free?
2 Models
3 Production status
4 Similar cars in development
5 See also
6 External links
- 6.1 News articles
7 References

[edit] Technology

The MDI Air car is powered by an air engine, specifically tailored for the car. This air engine is being manufactured by CQFD Air solution, a company closely linked to MDI.

The engine is powered by compressed air, stored in a carbon-fiber tank at 4500 psi (300 bar). The tank is made of carbon-fiber in order to reduce its weight. The engine has injection similar to normal engines, but uses special crankshafts and pistons, which remain at top dead center for about 70% of the engine's cycle; this allows more power to be developed in the engine.

[edit] Emission free?

Though the car itself uses no fossil fuels and is therefore Greenhouse gas emission free, it must be taken into account that the tanks are recharged using electric (or gasoline) compressors and that the electricity for such compressors may come from polluting power stations, such as coal-fired ones. However, alternative energies such as Solar power or Wind power or even nuclear power could be used to power the compressors if available, to result in zero carbon emissions.

[edit] Models

Image:MiniCAT.jpg

There are two MDI models in development using Compressed Air Technology: the three-seater MiniCAT for local commuting and and the six-seater CityCAT for longer distances.

[edit] Production status

As of November 2006 the Air car is not in production; though they have been said to be going into production "soon" since at least 1998.^{[citation needed]} It was, for example, announced to make its public debut in South Africa in 2002<ref name="HowStuffWorks"> Kevin Bonsor (2005-10-25). How Air-Powered Cars Will Work. HowStuffWorks. Retrieved on 2006-05-25. </ref>, or "within six months" in January 2004 <ref name="SundayTimes"> Robyn Curnow (2004-01-11). Gone with the wind. The Sunday Times (UK). Retrieved on 2006-05-25.</ref>

The Air car range will be sold by MDI as well as by ZevCat a US company based in California. Licenses are for sale, entitling the licensee to manufacture the Air car in other countries. Currently licences for manufacture and distribution have been sold to companies in Spain, Portugal, Brazil, South Africa, Great Britain and France.

[edit] Similar cars in development

The Energine Corporation is a company that delivers fully assembled cars running on a hybrid compressed air and electric engine: these cars are more precisely named pneumatic-hybrid electric vehicles.^{[citation needed]}

A similar (but only for braking energy recovery) concept using a pneumatic accumulator in a largely hydraulic system has been developed by U.S. government research laboratories and may soon be produced for delivery van use.^{[citation needed]}