The Worlds First Car Powered By Compressed Air.

A Development that I've been keeping an eye on since the late 1998 is a company called MDI, now established in Spain the business was established in France by an inventor named Guy Negre who's background in the car racing business supplied his inspiration.

The product line they have created is a line of Automobiles that run 100% on air! Sounds hard to believe I know but many demonstrations have been held, and video footage abounds. Compared to traditional polluting gasoline cars, the possibility for lessening the environmental footprint from driving a car is astounding.

More information regarding the MDI Air Car:

The engineering science that MDI vehicles function on is not new, as a matter of fact it had existed for a number of years. Compressed air engineering permits engines to become both non contaminating and frugal for it's user and the environment. Fully 10 years into R&D, MDI is poised to present its environmentally friendly automobiles to the marketplace.

The AirCar by MDI despite reports to the contrary, compare very well to hybrid, electric and the still unavailable hydrogen powered cars. The AirCar is reasonably priced, has a good range of driving distance before needed a fill-up, and it's environmental efficiency compares positively to other so-called eco-cars. They are easy to drive, uncomplicated, inexpensive and reduce the environmental footprint over standard autos, significantly.

MDI projects to manufacture 2 variations -- a 3 seater compact named the Minicat which will retail for approximately $9,850 and a 6 person sedan with a cost of $16,000 known as Citycat. The AirCar is secure, reliable doesn't emit pollutants, doesn't run on a fuel source that can blow up, plus it's non-polluting and in a price range that makes sense.

The way the AirCar works is that an electric pump forces compressed air into a storage tank, the compressed air is then let out to force the movement of pistons to rotate the drive shaft of the vehicle, similar to a standard gasoline engine process. If driving a top speed, the AirCar has a limited range of about 50 miles, but can be stretched out if driving at a lower rate. They are also working on hybrid models that have an unlimited range like a regular automobile. These models will run on a combination of compressed air and fuels such as bio-fuel, gas or diesel. Somewhat more expensive, but capable of greater speeds and distance. The Air-only models satisfy the needs of most city drivers.

The single energy powerplants will be available in both Minicats and Citycats. These engines have been developed for urban center usage, where the upper limit speed is 50 km/h and where MDI thinks polluting will before long be forbidden. It is already conceivable to see cases of this in various places, such as London, where if you decide to go into the city center with gas powered automobiles, you must pay a fee.

The hybrid-type engine, has been created for the open road as well as for city driving, and will be available as an option in all MDI vehicles. The engines will run exclusively on air when driving below 50 km/h in urban centers. When the automobile is driven outside cities at rates over 50 km/h, the system will transition to fuel mode. The hybrid engine will operate on gasoline, bio fuel, bio diesel,ethanol, alcohol, etc.

Both power plants will be available with 2, 4 and 6 cylinders, once the air tanks are discharged the driver will be able to alternate between fuel mode, thanks to the car's on board data processor.

The Air-only models have Zero emissions. According to MDI the only exhaust is hot air coming from the tail pipe.

Article Source: http://mylilpeanut.com

My Green Feat is committed to celebrating Environmental Footprint shrinking, and sharing ways to improve Environmental Issues
You can get a unique content version of this article.

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated