Posted on 08/20/2012 3:29:40 AM PDT by Renfield
The basic idea isn’t too bad.
Actually, it is a very inefficient method. Compressed air is a horribly inefficient method of energy storage. Too much energy goes into heating of the air during compression. That energy is lost.
Yes, but according to the article it takes two minutes to fill the air tank. Compare that to six to eight hours to recharge a battery pack. Also it gets 125 miles on average per refill. That’s also comparable to an electric car. Plus there is no need to buy an expensive battery pack when the old one dies.
So as an alternative method for storing energy for a cars propulsion it does beat electric as far as I am concerned. And I can imagine a braking method that uses a pump to put air back into the air tank. That would be similar to the regenerative braking on some electric vehicles also.
That to me makes it an idea that isn’t too bad.
The First Rule of Driving in India is that if it is behind you, it doesn't matter. Even if you are backing up, it still doesn't matter.
The Second Rule of Driving in India is that if your number is up, you number is up. So crash protection and accident avoidance are futile.
Look at the green car... It doesn't even have mirrors. They added mirrors to the orange car, because that is the Export Model!
FIFY
The interesting thing is a lot of the regulations address internal combusion engines but not exteranl combustion enignes. That would throw tax collectors in many states for a loop.
What a lie.
This car is COAL-POWERED, just like the Volt or any other electric car.
Compressed air is only used as an energy-storage mechanism.
Count on the media to get it wrong and support the green propaganda every time.
To achieve those rates, you would need a large compressed storage (at least an order of magnitude larger than the fuel tank). Likely for a commercial refilling station but more expensive for a home refueling station.
it does beat electric as far as I am concerned
a top speed of 43 mph
Not to me, that doesn't. And I would like to see if the range stays that same at near top speed.
Some designer wasn’t very worried about blind spots or head on collisions.On the contrary, for econazis, this is a feature: Fighting overpopulation at the same time!
The basic idea isn’t too bad. Although I expect that the NHTSA will nix it because of the high pressure tank that would go boom if there were an accident.
Can you imagine what the tax on compressed air would be? Or the license to own a compressor?
I got a better name for it: “Isetta!”
How can that thing be called a “car”?
Although I expect that the NHTSA will nix it because of the high pressure tank that would go boom if there were an accident.
Doubt it, they allow CNG and LPG tanks. Those not only go boom but tend to create a mushroom cloud when they go boom. One thing I like about this car is the range is reasonable, the fill time is quick and most service stations (not “gas stations”) already have compressed air systems with a hose outside to fill with.
An air system designed to inflate tires is NOT going to be able to fuel up this vehicle. It is going to require far more pressure than tires require.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/environment/deflating-the-air-car/0
That car requires 350 bars of pressure or over 5,000 psi.
Tata is a big name.. They happen to own Rover (or is it Land Rover? They bought it from Ford)
Nice hood BTW.
I want a pair of Tata cars.. that way I can ask “like my tatas?”
I was thinking that spinning a carbon fiber disk would store more energy.
I was thinking they should have taken a page from Toyota’s play book and ran the compressor every time the brakes where applied.
I seriously doubt that itty-bitty hose is going to be able to move that much air that fast. I don’t care how high the pressure is.
Looks like a 1/4 or 3/8 ID hose. If it’s 5000 psi it would have to be a very strong hose, so possibly the ID is even less.
Then it must have some sort of on board booster pump. Because that looks like a standard shop air line connected to it. I have not seen one of those hoses withstand 250 PSI let alone 5000..
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