SkywlkrSnd
12-06-2008, 04:39 PM
Using air as a propulsion device is not a new idea, but recent car developments have been making headlines lately. Air powered cars are powered by engines that are fueled by compressed air that is stored in high pressure tanks within the car. The prototypes coming out now are small, lightweight, and produce zero emissions except for clean, cold air. At the moment, they work best in urban environments, at lower speeds. Pushing them into higher speeds will require the engine to switch to another source of power (probably electricity or gasoline).
Currently the primary inventor of this new incarnation of air powered vehicles is Guy Negre of French company Motor Development International (MDI).
But rather than going into much more detail about how these cars work, I'll let the videos below explain it.
Anyway, this first one is from The Discovery Channel's FutureCar series and gives a nice overview:
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This second one is from The Science Channel and goes into a little more detail about the workings of the car and its engine:
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For more information, visit MDI's website (http://www.mdi.lu/english/index.php).
Additionally, a new company called Zero Pollution Motors (http://zeropollutionmotors.us/) has been started to begin bringing MDI's air cars to the US.
For me, this is one of most exciting car technologies out there. As the narrator pointed out in the first Discovery Channel clip, if they can get to a point where the air compressor devices are integrated into the cars themselves, they would have created their silver bullet. Essentially a zero polluting, zero refilling, perpetual motion machine that requires NO infrastructure changes. And the car itself isn't all that expensive. Don't know how much more perfect an automobile can get...maybe a little more horsepower. But at the rate at which technology advances...I'm not too worried about that.
Currently the primary inventor of this new incarnation of air powered vehicles is Guy Negre of French company Motor Development International (MDI).
But rather than going into much more detail about how these cars work, I'll let the videos below explain it.
Anyway, this first one is from The Discovery Channel's FutureCar series and gives a nice overview:
ztFDqcu8oJ4
This second one is from The Science Channel and goes into a little more detail about the workings of the car and its engine:
gFbKINlXzRk
For more information, visit MDI's website (http://www.mdi.lu/english/index.php).
Additionally, a new company called Zero Pollution Motors (http://zeropollutionmotors.us/) has been started to begin bringing MDI's air cars to the US.
For me, this is one of most exciting car technologies out there. As the narrator pointed out in the first Discovery Channel clip, if they can get to a point where the air compressor devices are integrated into the cars themselves, they would have created their silver bullet. Essentially a zero polluting, zero refilling, perpetual motion machine that requires NO infrastructure changes. And the car itself isn't all that expensive. Don't know how much more perfect an automobile can get...maybe a little more horsepower. But at the rate at which technology advances...I'm not too worried about that.