Eco-friendly car designed by MDI is powered by a compressed air engine.
Non-polluting AirPod has enough room for three adults and one child. It is controlled by a joystick instead of a regular steering wheel.
Four-wheeled version is currently in development. It will be manufactured and sold by Indian company Tata Motors. Expected price is $10,000.
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Geoffrey Frasz
What is the mileage for one load of air pressure?
Aug 19th, 2012
Martin Thorborg
Range is 100 miles and top speed is 50 miles.
Aug 19th, 2012
itai
The website is in french and the google translate isn’t 100% but it says: Autonomy in the urban cycle (km) 220. Might be the distance per load.
Max speed is 45 Km/h or 70 Km/h depending on model.
I’m more curious though, what kind of energy is required to compress the air into the tank.
Aug 19th, 2012
Volker
Compressed air is one of the less energy efficient storage mechanisms
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressed_air_car#Emissions ), but has unique advantages in harsh environments e.g. mining (exhaust-free, nonigniting as neither hot nor sparks, unsusceptible to moisture and corrosion)
They first announced it 1995, promised sales “in a few months, really” in 2009. Go figure…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressed_air_car#MDI
Aug 19th, 2012
Honkerburger
>> I’m more curious though, what kind of energy is required to compress the air into the tank. <<
That’s the point.
Also because there is no perpetuum mobile in the inside of this dumpster lookalike it definitely needs more energy than an e-car with the same specs.
Aug 19th, 2012
amin
i want it plz
Aug 19th, 2012
Thomas Chardon
I’m French and I took a look at the website.
It takes 1,5 minutes to refill the tank which can contain 200 litres of air.
The top speed are 45 km/h (28 miles/hour) or 70 km/h (44 miles/hours) depending of the model and you can drive it in town for about 220 km (136 miles).
Aug 19th, 2012
Pedro Hazza
not very fast… like, it cant even get highway speeds. they need to work on that
Aug 19th, 2012
leazah
not bad for in town driving but not ready for cross country I would be more confused having to relearn how to drive as it is different being a joystick
Aug 19th, 2012
Daniel
Will these be available in USA?
Aug 19th, 2012
James
While the technology needs work to bring it up to SPEED with other eco friendly cars, I think its a neat thing. I haven’t heard of using air pressure for this, though I suppose its not all that new to someone else.
anyway… I think the car is extremely ugly. Not sure why they couldn’t design something more sleek looking. it reminds me of those flintstone fisherprice play cars I had when I was a kid.
Aug 20th, 2012
john
This is NOT a vehicle that was designed for the highway.
no ‘crumple zones’,.. at 45, in a wreck, the thing that will ‘crumple’ will be YOU.
While it’s styling is both attractive and eye catching,..
It has a ‘tricycle suspension’ and a high center of gravity. Not very good in panic stops.
This would be a great car for urban third world cities, inexpensive to run and maintain. They still haven’t achieved the ‘price point’ they’re shooting for to make progress in those markets.
Note: no A/C, no radio, and I’m not sure the windows open.
Aug 20th, 2012
Jose
Amazing pure whimsical genius the thought of an air powered car is finally done and are there video games in the back because it looks like a controller and a DS
Aug 20th, 2012
E
I’m not engine or tech expert, but I’m sold for this idea (at least the enviromental side of me).
It is designed as town/city card definitely. And I believe if the finished product has a good success, there will be more on developing the engine for the speed and the mileage.
Aug 23rd, 2012
Enrico Martinez
As long as no one uses fart as substitute for air power.
Aug 25th, 2012
nash
This is amazing! The only question I have is what happens if you get in a crash?
Aug 30th, 2012
Keith Whittaker
There was perpetual motion machine powered by air invented in the 80’s by someone who made modifications an existing car. There will never be change for the better when people are bought.
Sep 7th, 2012
Liz
It’s so cute and seems really cost efficient but I can see roads full of cars like this tipping over.
Sep 19th, 2012
Bill
The problem with saying compressed air is one of the less efficient forms of energy storage is, it fails to look at the big picture. Of all energy storage mechanisms compressed air adds the least amount of weight to the vehicle. Both the compressed air itself is light, and the motor is incredibly light. There is no need for complex exhaust systems either. When you decrease the the vehicle weight, you reduce how much energy is consumed. So in the race to build the lightest more energy efficient vehicle, compressed air power should be the clear winner.
The problem is if you want to take your vehicle on the road in NA, by the time you meet the necessary requirements, the compressed air engine and storage tank is going to be an insignificant portion of your vehicle’s weight. Realistically the best we can hope for in NA is the compressed air version of an e-bike.
Sep 24th, 2012
Sm
I like the idea of compressing air with a wind turbine on the roof of your home…
Holland, Denmark would love it…
And near the sea, tides could be used for compressing air…
How much is the pressure of the air used for the above mentioned performances?
Feb 23rd, 2013
T. Elliott
like to run a test of these in small AZ town. Maybe can get grant. Any dealerships avail?
Sep 10th, 2013
Daniel M
what is the mpg on this car and how much does it go for
Dec 3rd, 2014