cat | Science Buzz

Air Car or hot air?

by ARTiFactor on Nov. 16th, 2008
in Energy Transformations

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CityCAT Air Car
Courtesy Deepak

Air Cars in US by 2010?

When I first wrote about a car that runs on air, there was lots of interest. I am really hoping this car is not just a bunch of hot air. Storing energy as compressed air seems simpler, cheaper, and "greener" than using batteries. Electric vehicle battery cost estimates often are around $10,000. They also wear out and need to be replaced.

FlowAIR air cars

Zero Pollution Motors (ZPM) has renamed their air cars "FlowAir". ZPM is the exclusive representative for Motor Development International (MDI) in the United States.

Company officials want to make the first air-powered car to hit U.S. roads a $17,800, 75-hp equivalent, six-seat modified version of MDI’s CityCAT (pictured above) that, thanks to an even more radical engine, is said to travel as far as 1000 miles at up to 96 mph with each tiny fill-up. Popular Mechanics

From the compressed air vehicle specifications page I note that the air tank and compressor are 3200 cubic feet @ 4500 psi and an on board 5.5 kwh 110/220 v compressor generating 812 cu ft /hr. Filling up with air from a filling station is supposed to take about 3 minutes.

American made, locally produced

Shiva Vencat, who heads Zero Pollution Motors, envisions small $20 million factories opening in late 2010 or early 2011, each building cars at a rate of one every half hour. Possibly starting in Newburgh, N.Y., new factories would expand production by about 10,000 Air Cars per year.