Jalopnik: air car

Air-Powered Jumping Cutlass

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 14:00:00 EST

Not all air gained by cars is done so by forward motion. Check out this stripped down '86 Cutlass which someone has seen fit to outfit with a serious air cylinder system and dubbed the Cyclone. Don't know how many times it will be blowing through anywhere though cause the leaper looks like it gets pretty trashed in this clip of aerial acrobatics. Rocking a 60 gallon tank at 390 PSI, this thing it packing some serious stored energy. Now all we need is somebody to drive this off a ramp and hit the switch at just the right moment.

BBC Discovers Air Car, We Chuckle At Fill Up Procedure

Ben Wojdyla — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:30:00 EST

We heard about the Tata backed and French developed Air Car back in January and are intrigued by the brilliantly simple concept. It seems the Beeb has caught wind of it too and recently ran the coverage you see above. The numbers on it are pretty exciting for something running like an air compressor with its valves reversed. A top speed of 110 km/h and a range of 200 km makes it seem almost useful. Predictions on production dates are to be taken with a grain of salt, but claims of the end of the year are bandied about. Wonder if it will be an available option on the Tata Nano?

Huffing and Puffing: Tata Electric Car To Run on Compressed Air?

Travis Hudson — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:15:00 EST

After 14 years worth of research, design and testing, former Formula 1 driver Guy Negre has done what I did back in 7th grade — make an air-powered car. Okay, my air car was a little less complex than this design, but it got third place in the shop class race off and had flames on its tiny, 8-inch long chassis. Now, Indian manufacturer, Tata Motors, yes, the same company that just brought you the cheap-ass Nano a few hours ago, is backing a car powered by compressed air.

The car — which we'll keep calling it as it currently lacks a name — is capable of traveling upwards of 125 miles on three dollars worth of compressed air thanks to mostly air- and fuel-driven motor and brake power recovery system. Prices are very reasonable as well with the first fleet being estimated at only $7,000 each. The very conceptual-looking design pictured here is nothing to drop your trousers about, though. [a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/01/air_car_is_here.php">Treehugger]

Compressed-Air Power: MDI Car Closer to Production

Mike Spinelli — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 13:08:54 EDT

The perpetual-motion machine may be eons away, but the the first commercially viable car to run on compressed air may be at hand. The brainchild of French inventor Guy N gre, the MDI, which we first reported on in 2005, employs a novel system of compressed air tanks and an internal-combustion support engine that can either power the minicar or compress the air used in its tanks. The urban runabouts, which come in a number of configurations, are built from fiberglass over a tubular chassis. MDI plans to offer them with a host of information systems that interface with the car's inner workings and provide connectivity to the internet and other systems as well as digi entertainment. A new partnership with India's Tata motors — the country's largest carmaker — may mean MDIs could show up en masse soon. Maybe even this very decade. – Mike Spinelli

The Air Car - zero pollution and very low running costs [Gizmag]

Related:
More on the MDI Air-Powered Car [internal]