An Air Car You Could See in 2009: ZPM’s 106 MPG Compressed-Air Hybrid
Compressed-Air Powered cars could take you over 800 miles on a single fill-up, at speeds of up to 96 mph. They should refuel in less than 3 minutes, and at speeds over 35 mph emit about half the CO2 of a Toyota Prius. Best part? You could see them in the US at the end of next year.
Car-tech aficionados may already be familiar with Zero Pollution Motor’s (ZPM) compressed-air powered car. For those that haven’t heard of it yet, read on:
“The compressed air vehicle is a new generation of vehicle that finally solves the motorist’s dilemma: how to drive and not pollute at a cost that is affordable!”
What happens when you replace the explosions in your car’s combustion chamber with clean compressed air? Well, as long as you lighten things up by replacing heavier parts with aluminum, you end up with a clean, efficient way to power a vehicle.
The world’s first commercial compressed-air powered vehicle is currently being produced by India’s largest automaker, Tata Motors, who is licensing the technology from European-based company MDI (a company powered by the innovation of ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre). They anticipate having about 6000 of these vehicles on city streets in India in 2008.
How does an Air Car Work?
- Welcome Google search visitors: This is just one of many articles produced here on a daily basis on Gas 2.0. If you find this post interesting, sign up for our RSS feed and stay up to date.
Although potentially revolutionary it really isn’t that complicated. What a compressed-air car does is use the force of super-compressed air to move the engine’s pistons up and down, as opposed to explosions produced from injecting a small amount of fuel.
To get things moving on compressed air, weight reduction is a top priority. MDI’s aluminum-based engine weighs half what a normal engine does, and the frame is also built out of lightweight materials (US version will be aluminum?).
ZPM’s US model will store about 3200 cubic feet of compressed air in carbon fiber tanks at 4500 psi. Carbon fiber tanks are used for safety reasons since they tend to split open (as opposed to explode) when punctured.
Compressed air from the tanks will run directly to the engine under speeds of 35 miles per hour. That means that under 35 mph the car qualifies as a zero emissions vehicle. At higher speeds the engine will burn a small amount of fuel to create more compressed air, sort of like how a plug-in hybrid like the Chevy Volt produces on-the-fly electricity. The hybrid air-car setup should be able use any number of fuels, including gasoline, propane, or ethanol.
1 tank of air + 8 gallons of gas = 848 mile range
The car’s compressed air tank can be refilled in about 3 minutes from a service station. To fill it up at home the car would be plugged in, where an onboard compressor would refill the tank in about 4 hours, at an electrical cost of about $2.
If you aren’t sure whether turning electricity into compressed air is really that clean, here are some numbers: at speeds over 35 mph the air car emits about half the CO2 per mile as a 2007 Toyota Prius (0.141lbs of CO2 per mile, while that the Toyota Prius emits 0.34 lbs of CO2 per mile).
Will we actually see a US-model Air Car in 2009/10?
New York startup ZPM, like Tata motors, has licensed technology from Luxembourg-based MDI. MDI also has plans to release these cars in Europe in 2-, 4-, and 6-cylinder models, starting under $15,000.
Despite lightweight construction that could be of concern for passing US safety tests, it appears that air car technology could be available in the US in late 2009. ZPM told PopularMechanics.com earlier this year that it expects to produce the first US model air car at the end of 2009 or early 2010. (Btw, ZPM’s model is also a candidate for the $10 million Automotive X Prize.)
ZPM wants to produce a 6-seater, 75-hp model with a 1000 mile range at 96 mph, all for just $17,800.
The big question I think we all have is: will this car make it through US safety testing? ZPM’s website says that air car models will meet the same safety specifications of all cars driven in the US. As with most of these new hyper-efficient models we’ve seen (like Aptera’s Typ1 or VW’s 1L Car), ZPM claims the vehicle’s “tubular body provides increased resistance in the event of a crash.” The car will also come with Air Bags and ABS braking.
It’s another case of wait-and see, and we can only hope ZPM follows through.
For more info, check out a great youtube video about air cars (embedded below).
Like this post? Sign up for our RSS Feed and stay up to date.
Posts Related to the Air Car, Hybrid Cars, and Other Vehicles:
- The World’s Most Fuel Efficient Car: 285 MPG, Not A Hybrid
- Aptera’s $26000 Electric Car and 300 MPG Hybrid Coming Soon
- The Cleanest Cars on Earth?: Honda Civic GX and Other Natural Gas Vehicles
- Affordable Electric Cars Coming to US in 2009
- An Electric Car You Can Buy Today: The $20K TRIAC EV
- Clean Diesel Cars Coming to US This Fall: 2008-2010 Timeline
Photo Credit: Zero Pollution Motors
So, compressed air is a more dense energy medium than batteries then? I’d bet one could implement a significantly more efficient conversion device than an oscillating cylinder driving a standard auto drivetrain.
Still, interesting.
Make it a three wheeler or two wheeler and you could call it a scooter. This will get you past the safety requirements of a car. The cost is a blatant rip off, however. It has less weight, complexities and amenities of a car. The price should reflect that.
^ yeh you could use a different drivetrain. Its called a rotary engine. Suck it freak!
Are they considering the amount of pollution produced by a power plant in order to compress the air to start with? I mean it sounds like a nice idea, and maybe it is too good to be true, but air doesn’t compress itself.
The tata Nano that I believe is referred here : “The world’s first commercial compressed-air powered vehicle is currently being produced by India’s largest automaker, Tata Motors, who is licensing the technology from European-based company MDI (a company powered by the innovation of ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre). They anticipate having about 6000 of these vehicles on city streets in India in 2008.” is a regular petrol/diesel engine car and not on compressed air
Can of Death
I love that alternative, efficient, and cleaner automotive technologies are being brought to production (or at least seeing the light of day), but for goodness sake, can they spare a designer for the project?
The main objection I have against alternative fuel vehicles is that they almost always look faux-futuristic and, to be honest, ugly.
I know that certain shapes are good for aerodynamics, but there have been cars built with good lines that are also low drag.
Is there some conspiracy that is keeping car companies from making a visually appealing alternative fuel vehicle? Maybe, but if Tesla can make a halfway decent looking electric, this ZPM company should be able to as well.
C’mon folks, let’s remember what cars look like:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lincoln_Zephyr.jpg
I love that alternative, efficient, and cleaner automotive technologies are being brought to production (or at least seeing the light of day), but for goodness sake, can they spare a designer for the project?
The main objection I have against alternative fuel vehicles is that they almost always look faux-futuristic and, to be honest, ugly.
I know that certain shapes are good for aerodynamics, but there have been cars built with good lines that are also low drag.
Is there some conspiracy that is keeping car companies from making a visually appealing alternative fuel vehicle? Maybe, but if Tesla can make a halfway decent looking electric, this ZPM company should be able to as well.
C’mon folks, let’s remember what cars look like:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lincoln_Zephyr.jpg
The problem is converting Electric energy to kinetic energy results in extremely big energy losses. As high as 30%.
And then also there is the expensiveness of creating a battery with the capacity of that cylinder.
I’m buying one, that’s for sure. I like the car in the video at 1:29. That thing’s pimp!!!