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wombat2u2004
04-18-2011, 07:31 AM
I checked Snopes....no mention about it at all.
I HOPE this is real.

AIR POWERED CAR IN INDIA


Tata Motors is ready to introduce Air Car - Will it be the next big
thing?
Tata Motors is taking giant strides and making history for itself.
First the Land Rover/Jaguar deal, then the world's cheapest car, and now
it is also set to introduce the car that runs on compressed air.

http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/wombat2u2004/19a118.jpg

With spiralling fuel prices it is about time we heard some
breakthrough!

India's largest automaker, Tata Motors, is set to start producing the
world's first commercial air-powered vehicle.

The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy N?gre for
Luxembourg-based MDI, uses compressed air, as opposed to the
gas-and-oxygen explosions of internal-combustion models, to push its
engine's pistons.

http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/wombat2u2004/19a137.jpg

Some 6000 zero-emissions Air Cars are scheduled to hit Indian streets
by August 2011.

The Air Car, called the "MiniCAT" could cost around Rs. 3,475,225
($8,177.00) in India and would have a range of around 300 km between
refuels.

The cost of a refill would be about Rs. 85 ($2.00)

The MiniCAT which is a simple, light urban car, with a tubular
chassis that is glued, not welded, and a body of fiberglass powered
by compressed air.
Microcontrollers are used in every device in the car, so one tiny
radio transmitter sends instructions to the lights, indicators, etc.

http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/wombat2u2004/19a128.jpg

There are no keys - just an access card which can be read by the car
from your pocket. According to the designers, it costs less than 50
rupees per 100 Km (about a tenth that of a petrol car). Its mileage is
about double that of the most advanced electric car (200 to 300 km or 10
hours of driving), a factor which makes a perfect choice in cities where
80% of motorists drive at less than 60 Km. The car has a top speed of
105 Kmph.

Refilling the car will, once the market develops, take place at
adapted petrol stations to administer compressed air. In two or
three minutes, and at a cost of approximately 100 rupees, the car will
be ready to go another 200-300 kilometers.

As a viable alternative, the car carries a small compressor which
can be connected to the mains (220V or 380V) and refill the tank in
3-4 hours.
Due to the absence of combustion and, consequently, of residues,
changing the oil (1 litre of vegetable oil) is necessary only every
50,000 Km).
The temperature of the clean air expelled by the exhaust pipe is
between 0-15 degrees below zero, which makes it suitable for use by the
internal air conditioning system with no need for gases or loss of
power.

mrspunkysmom
04-18-2011, 07:54 AM
It sounds wonderful. American business will find a way to make it expensive. Unless some entrepreneur can find a way to market it aw well as a portable gas compressor. Don't we have those already?

wombat2u2004
04-18-2011, 07:58 AM
It sounds wonderful. American business will find a way to make it expensive. Unless some entrepreneur can find a way to market it aw well as a portable gas compressor. Don't we have those already?

Well....the auto manufacturers and the oil companies have been making a fortune out of us all for so long, they won't be letting that go without a fight.

Lady's Human
04-18-2011, 08:03 AM
The car would never meet US or European crash standards.

Besides, IIRC from an article about it last year or so, top speed is about 30 Km/h, and the air tanks require thousands of PSI. Not something you're going to supply from your portable pancake compressor.

wombat2u2004
04-18-2011, 08:34 AM
The car would never meet US or European crash standards.

Besides, IIRC from an article about it last year or so, top speed is about 30 Km/h, and the air tanks require thousands of PSI. Not something you're going to supply from your portable pancake compressor.

Well, I'd like to believe that we have a choice here. We could continue to subsidise the oil companies, or we could all just get off our butts and support the idea of an alternative. What's it going to be ??? To just keep paying mega bucks so we can drive faster ?? To keep polluting the atmosphere and give idiots like Al Gore an excuse to pressure governments to tax people further because of so called environmental issues ??? To observe crash standards whilst at the same time watch as the poor and elderly freeze to death in their homes ????
Or........do something about it.

Lady's Human
04-18-2011, 08:47 AM
There are alternatives.

Biggest issue with plug in electrics? battery recharge time.

Fine, have a chain of "fuel" stations and change batteries, one for one. It would require a standard battery form, but eminently doable. (idea source....R.A.H., shipstones, from the future history novels)

Secondary issue with electrics? Power. I'd have to search, but there are several proposals for neighborhood size nuke reactors. )Pebble beds, stable, exceedingly limited danger of any issues)However, due to the BS spread about nukes, they'll never fly. My thanks to the modern green movement.

Wind power? See Cape Wind for an example of how much the greens REALLY want renewable energy.

Solar? Workable, but not really in the current manner of discussion. Want to make it work? Powersats. Thanks to Ben Bova, solar power captured exo-atmospherically has a much higher energy density and can be beamed to receiving stations on terra, but instead we gut NASA and tech research to pay for the next generation of welfare recipients..............could be funding scientific research and expansion and creating jobs instead.

Biofuels just don't make sense in the current context.

Natural Gas would be a great resource, I'm sitting on top of a huge reservoir of it, (search marcellus shale) but the greens have managed to scare people with pseudo scientific pap.

wombat2u2004
04-18-2011, 09:53 AM
There are alternatives.

Biggest issue with plug in electrics? battery recharge time.

Fine, have a chain of "fuel" stations and change batteries, one for one. It would require a standard battery form, but eminently doable. (idea source....R.A.H., shipstones, from the future history novels)

Secondary issue with electrics? Power. I'd have to search, but there are several proposals for neighborhood size nuke reactors. )Pebble beds, stable, exceedingly limited danger of any issues)However, due to the BS spread about nukes, they'll never fly. My thanks to the modern green movement.

Wind power? See Cape Wind for an example of how much the greens REALLY want renewable energy.

Solar? Workable, but not really in the current manner of discussion. Want to make it work? Powersats. Thanks to Ben Bova, solar power captured exo-atmospherically has a much higher energy density and can be beamed to receiving stations on terra, but instead we gut NASA and tech research to pay for the next generation of welfare recipients..............could be funding scientific research and expansion and creating jobs instead.

Biofuels just don't make sense in the current context.

Natural Gas would be a great resource, I'm sitting on top of a huge reservoir of it, (search marcellus shale) but the greens have managed to scare people with pseudo scientific pap.

Yep, the Greens have frightened everyone here to. We don't have commo's or socialists here any more, they all changed their name to The Greens.

Freedom
04-18-2011, 10:27 AM
I checked Snopes....no mention about it at all.
I HOPE this is real.

Seems to be! Did a Google search, TONS of info!

http://www.google.com/search?q=air+powered+car+by+tata&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Lady's Human
04-18-2011, 10:33 AM
I hate to throw a wet blanket on this as far as real world application, but these are the same people who designed the Tata Nano (engine fires on four wheels) and it comes from the same country that has been trying to produce the Arjun MBT for 30+ years.

Mahindra-diesel compact truck to the US market in 2009- Haven't seen one for sale yet, and the deal is tied up in court.

Tata- the air car coming to the US in 2009 or early 2010- Haven't seen one yet.

They don't exactly have a stellar track record.

wombat2u2004
04-18-2011, 10:42 AM
I wonder if it would go faster if I ate a lot of beans. :confused:

Lady's Human
04-18-2011, 10:43 AM
That would be the "natural" gas powered version. :p

wombat2u2004
04-18-2011, 10:45 AM
That would be the "natural" gas powered version. :p

AND fully combustible if one lit a match near me. :p

Lady's Human
04-18-2011, 10:48 AM
I was going to accuse them of peddling vaporware, but the pun was just too obvious...