Air Cars vs. Electric Cars vs. Hybrids - Which are Greener?
An ‘air car’ sure sounds clean. A car that runs on air? What’s cleaner than that? But of course it’s not quite that simple.
The world’s first commercial air car is currently being produced by India’s largest automaker, Tata Motors, who is licensing the technology from European-based company MDI. A compressed-air car uses 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. 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.
So now that we’ve established how the Air Car will work, how green is it?
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Well, there are CO2 emissions associated with both the electricity required to power the air compressor, and the liquid fuel required to create more compressed air on-the-fly.
A comprehensive analysis of these emissions is available in the Huddler Air Car Introduction Wiki. What it boils down to is that on average, the ZPM Air Car produces 0.176 lbs of CO2 per mile, using the average US power grid mix. If you’re getting your electricity from a greener utility like California’s Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), this brings the total emissions down to 0.155 lbs/mile.
In comparison, the second generation Prius emits 0.34 lbs/mile, so the ZPM Air Car does indeed produce roughly half the CO2 emissions of the Prius, as the company claims.
The Tesla Roadster creates 0.24 lbs/mile of CO2 for the average US power grid mix, and 0.093 lbs/mile for the PG&E mix. The Aptera typ-1e creates 0.114 lbs/mile of CO2 for the average US power grid mix, and 0.044 lbs/mile for the PG&E mix. So in most instances, the ZPM will produce lower emissions than the Tesla, but not when the power comes from low emissions sources like PG&E’s. The Aptera typ-1e produces the lowest emissions by far.
The moral of the story is that the Air Car does quite well in terms of emissions. It will also supposedly seat 6 with a low price tag at around $17,800, so the Air Car could be an affordable and green alternative to fully electric cars.
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Photo Credit: Zero Pollution Motors
Can anyone tell me how the Air Compressed Car or the Electric cars would do at -30 deress below zero? Also I drive 25 miles to work and 5 miles is climbing to just over 1000 ft in elevation. I not heard from anyone how these vehicles do in conditions like these?
Thank you; PD
1)The question is whether an air motor is as efficient as an electric motor. So far they are less efficient than a gasoline engine. (2) Air can be compressed and stored with existing technology but emissions depend on what is used to power the compressor. (3) People are fixated on the link between vehicle weight and passenger safety. Three things determine crashworthiness. First design geometry, second is material strength, and third is passenger restraints. Simply adding weight means a longer stopping distance and a higher impact velocity. (4) An air motor whether rotary or pistion needs seals and these wear with use.
Public acceptance of any new vehicle will depend on factors such as power to weight ratio, torque, range, and average annual operating costs. The more fundamental question is what is the most safe and efficient transportation system possible. This will involve a variety of vehicles and travel modes blending bicycles, automobiles, buses, trains, airplanes and boats. If you are going to say something is wonderful or something is crappy then let’s have some meaniful data.
The air car is clearly the most environmentally friendly — it DOES NOT EXIST. Something that has never been sold can’t be used, so therefore its emissions are ZERO.
MDI continues to delay, delay, delay.
They are also no longer participating in the X-Prize competition.
Vaporware doesn’t emit pollution.