I'm not so sure I'd want a high-pressure air tank sitting somewhere underneath me, either.
Posted on 10/14/2008 8:38:00 AM PDT by DemforBush
I mean, if you're going to radically change the way a car is powered, you might as well radically change the way it looks too. Right?
I guess that's what MDI (the company who has been pioneering, or at least attempting to pioneer, the compressed-air-powered car for the last 20 years) was thinking when they created the AirPod. I'm not getting any press releases in English, and my French is horrible. But from what I can tell, this new concept is going to roll off the production line in 2009...
(Excerpt) Read more at green.yahoo.com ...
I'm not so sure I'd want a high-pressure air tank sitting somewhere underneath me, either.
They should call it The Coffin.
It looks like a wheelchair with a roof.
Looks like something off a carnival ride. I believe green junk is supposed to be ugly.
You can recharge it overnight with the compressor that’s in your refrigerator!
We’re one step away from roller skates and a battery-powered fan.
A little headwind, and you’re going nowhere.
but seriously, I always wondered why everyone uses a 4000 pound car to go back and forth
Isn’t there a market for a cheap (< 5K) transport with a tiny engine for going from point A to B each day? you don’t even need motorcycle power
CLARIFICATION: I am NOT proposing everyone be FORCED to own one, I just am surprised there is not a market for one. Maybe now is a good opportunity for one. I thought the Segway was going to be huge- but the $6K prices was crazy
At $3K i think they would have been an immediate hit and would now be mass produced down to $1.5K
I’ll keep my SUV, thank you, Mr. Green. I cherish my life and my passenger’s lives too much.
Does it comes with a Lego Man Driver too?
So, is 'green marketing' an oxymoron?
.
Where is the “Playschool” logo?
“Why do they always have to make “green” cars ugly to the point of being immoral?”
LMAO!
Good one!
If they made a Mustang per say, more “green”. Those would fly out the dealerships. I don’t understand why they design these cars “for tools, by tools”.
It’s called a moped. Ride one if you want to, but don’t make the decisions for me.
Raising the stakes on calling 'shotgun.'
Some of us have to share 100+ miles per day on the interstates with semi-tractor trailers and passenger buses from Mexico. THAT'S why I drive a Suburban.
Just copying from the old Isetta-BMW “bubble car” that was introduced in Germany circa 1955 or so, you know, the one that opened up in front and the steering wheel swung aside with the door.
As I recall, they had a canvas top that could serve as access to the interior after a frontal crash of any kind.
Just to retrieve the corpses of the occupants. Survivability would not have been one of the strong traits.
These things are golf carts.
correct....that is why i drive an aspen..
If it's Hip quotient were as high as its Dork quotient is, you could get 10 grand for one.
I take that back; call it a speed bump.
Why?...welllllllllll, because THEY are ugly and immoral.
Like produces like, maybe? ;-)
I’d drive it if it was sidewalk legal!
A market, and a world class manufacturer:
Let's see if I can help you:
1) In a 4000 pound car, you are far better protected during an accident.
2) With a 4000 pound car you can actually drive safely on the freeway with a 50 MPH crosswind and 18-wheelers.
3) If you hit a deer (or other animal) on the highway with your 4000 pound car, it probably won't kill you.
4) A 4000 pound car has room in it for you to drive your children to school on your way to work.
5) You could invite a coworker to go to lunch with you in your 4000 pound car.
6) If you decide to buy something at the store on the way home from work, you can fit more than a hand bag in your 4000 pound car.
7) Your 4000 pound car could easily last you 30 years or more with proper care.
8) A bunch of drunk college students wouldn't likely lift your 4000 pound car onto a garbage dumpster as a prank.
That's just a few off the top of my head.
I hate all this green stuff.
Ethanol is liberal wishlisting that costs us dearly.
Electric cars do not have an adequate support in our already strapped electrical grid system, and nobody will tell me what happens to a propane or natural gas automobnile if it gets in an accident. Just how dangerous is a tank of liquified natural gas or propane in a burning auto wreck?
Is the clown standard or do I have to pay extra for him?
Compressed air? There’s a reason those trucks carrying air cylinders have safety plackards. Try calculating the fount-pounds of energy in one of those babies...
Can you imagine a semi-truck passing you on the highway at speed?
Good chance you would just be blown off the road.
The cars run off air that is compressed into a extremely strong tank. The air is then slowly released, driving an engine that can propel the American version of the car up to 95MPH. The American distributors, Zero Pollution Motors, already has its price set ($17,800) and a design (seen above).
This also comes with a new bit of news about the Air Car's propulsion system. The air tank can only hold so much air, right, so how do they extend the range and power for the American market? Well...what does air do when it's heated? It expands! So MDI has developed a way for the car to get a range of over 800 miles! A small petrol engine heats the air, providing the extra energy necessary to get the car up to 95 MPH and more than triples the vehicle's range. So, indeed, you will have to fill up both a gasoline tank and an air tank to get the car to work.
The bad news is that it takes about an hour to fill the air tank. But, theoretically, the car could come with an at-home charger...since being parked at a gas station for an hour-long fill-up would be pretty horrible. The other bad news is that you'll be burning gasoline...which kinda defeats the purpose...right?
Well, not if the car gets an effective 106 mpg when traveling above 35 mph and doesn't use a drop of gas when going slower than that.
Sounds to me like a pretty good compromise for bringing this otherwise not-very-suited-for-the-American-lifestyle car to America.
Back in the early 90s I used to get 48 mpg overall with my 3 cylinder, 1 liter, 4 seater, standard shift Geo Metro. It didn’t roar up to 65 mph, but it could hold its own on the interstate. The standard shift had enough power to move out sharply, too.
Should’ve kept it.
Bring it back. It’d probably be cheap in this market.
So that when someone's 3000 pound car hits yours, you might survive. This is also why many American families consider it a loving gesture when a father buys a 7500-pound SUV for his wife and kids.
buddy can you spare a psi?
Looks real sturdy, huh? Love that front end. That’d hold up well in a fender-bender. < /s>
It’s designed so that the driver is the first one to the scene of the accident.
That's OK - Language Police to the rescue! I don't actually speak French but you don't have to - French is exactly like American English if you only talk loudly enough. Here's the press release:
Allors! Stupid Americain pigs. We are release this stinkbug pupa on wheels to show you zat you fools will by anysing so long as it has a classy trademark on it. We are negotiate with Louis Vuitton for ze rights to jack ze price on zis lump of plastic - how you say chambre de suicide in English? - so zat you and two of your bon ami may sit wis your private parts ten centimetre from ze 10,000 kilograms of compressed air in a tank we subcontracted to ze Chinese pot-metal industry. Zoom-zoom? Eh, non, mes ami! We are name it Le Boom-boom. [Note to Jacques - send zis to ze copywriters for a cleanup. Use ze word "green." Zey'll buy anything zat says "green."]
Dad! Don't make me ride in the Air Car! My friends might see me!
Let's take the Aztek instead!
Nope. The refrig compressor is a closed cycle refrigerant system. No air involved.
You’ll never seen this cowboy in one of those toys. I’d rather go back to feeding a horse.
Do they have one that can be powered by intestinal gas? A friend of mine might benefit from this....
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