Compressed Air powered, zero emission cars - for $6.5K each

This is a 7 & 1/2 minute CNN (Europe) report of a zero emission, air
powered car - designed to sell for 6.5K...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-iXrM02g_yc

RH wrote:
> This is a 7 & 1/2 minute CNN (Europe) report of a zero emission, air
> powered car - designed to sell for 6.5K...
>
> http://youtube.com/watch?v=-iXrM02g_yc

Don't forget these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-A3XHFT5qc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq8aZVLpf-c

-phaeton

"phaeton" > wrote in message
ps.com...
>
> RH wrote:
>> This is a 7 & 1/2 minute CNN (Europe) report of a zero
>> emission, air powered car - designed to sell for 6.5K...
>>
>> http://youtube.com/watch?v=-iXrM02g_yc
>
> Don't forget these:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-A3XHFT5qc
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq8aZVLpf-c

More efficient than charging lead-acid batteries, but only 58%
thermally efficient on charging. That power comes from some
other source.

David A. Smith

RH wrote:
> This is a 7 & 1/2 minute CNN (Europe) report of a zero emission, air
> powered car - designed to sell for 6.5K...
>
> http://youtube.com/watch?v=-iXrM02g_yc

Wow, a 2004 CNN video clip where they claim it'll be on sale
by the end of the year. My calendar says it's getting on towards
the end of 2006. Where can I buy one?

Anthony

RH wrote:
> This is a 7 & 1/2 minute CNN (Europe) report of a zero emission, air
> powered car - designed to sell for 6.5K...
>
> http://youtube.com/watch?v=-iXrM02g_yc

Not again....these "cars" seem to pop up every 6 months on this forum.
Even if this vaporware becomes a reality what the sellers conveniently
leave out of the equation is that the compressed air is really just
another form of energy that has been transferred from elsewhere. And
the elsewhere is ultimately a coal fired power plant.

John S. wrote:
....
> Not again....these "cars" seem to pop up every 6 months on this forum.
> Even if this vaporware becomes a reality what the sellers conveniently
> leave out of the equation is that the compressed air is really just
> another form of energy that has been transferred from elsewhere. And
> the elsewhere is ultimately a coal fired power plant.

In this sense, the idea isn't any worse than electric or hydrogen cars.
The energy for all these technologies have to come from somewhere else.

The advertising from MDI suggested that air tanks could be a cheaper
and longer lasting form of energy storage than batteries. Clearly
this advertising is misleading (or even downright fraudulent) since
they have not built a single prototype that lives up to the hype in
over 12 years.

The last I heard (from Wired) was that their prototype was limited
to a range of around 5 miles. Enough for a quick spin around the block
to wow a reporter but not enough to actually go anywhere.

Anthony

Anthony Matonak wrote:

> John S. wrote:
> ...
> > Not again....these "cars" seem to pop up every 6 months on this forum.
> > Even if this vaporware becomes a reality what the sellers conveniently
> > leave out of the equation is that the compressed air is really just
> > another form of energy that has been transferred from elsewhere. And
> > the elsewhere is ultimately a coal fired power plant.
>
> In this sense, the idea isn't any worse than electric or hydrogen cars.
> The energy for all these technologies have to come from somewhere else.
>
> The advertising from MDI suggested that air tanks could be a cheaper
> and longer lasting form of energy storage than batteries. Clearly
> this advertising is misleading (or even downright fraudulent) since
> they have not built a single prototype that lives up to the hype in
> over 12 years.
>
> The last I heard (from Wired) was that their prototype was limited
> to a range of around 5 miles. Enough for a quick spin around the block
> to wow a reporter but not enough to actually go anywhere.

It's a techological dead-end.

Graham

This site has a table of energy density by weight and volume and
compressed air is worse than batteries. (Hint... most air compressors
I've seen are big noisy 220V several HP contraptions and they huff and
puff and finally shut off at a whopping 150 psi.)
http://xtronics.com/reference/energy_density.htm

Anthony Matonak wrote:
> John S. wrote:
> ...
> > Not again....these "cars" seem to pop up every 6 months on this forum.
> > Even if this vaporware becomes a reality what the sellers conveniently
> > leave out of the equation is that the compressed air is really just
> > another form of energy that has been transferred from elsewhere. And
> > the elsewhere is ultimately a coal fired power plant.
>
> In this sense, the idea isn't any worse than electric or hydrogen cars.
> The energy for all these technologies have to come from somewhere else.

Yes, but the True Believers supporting the latest fuel technology find
it easy to ignore the hidden costs.


>
> The advertising from MDI suggested that air tanks could be a cheaper
> and longer lasting form of energy storage than batteries. Clearly
> this advertising is misleading (or even downright fraudulent) since
> they have not built a single prototype that lives up to the hype in
> over 12 years.
>
> The last I heard (from Wired) was that their prototype was limited
> to a range of around 5 miles. Enough for a quick spin around the block
> to wow a reporter but not enough to actually go anywhere.

Gasoline and other fuels are far more effective than air when it comes
to ease of transport and storage of energy. I'm trying to imagine the
number of compressed air tanks on trailers that would be required to
make a 400 mile trip.


>
> Anthony

"Anthony Matonak" > wrote

>... the idea isn't any worse than electric or hydrogen cars.
> The energy for all these technologies have to come from somewhere else.

Yes it is worse, much worse. The overall efficiency is far lower, for a
variety of reasons, chief of which is the pathetic energy density which
forces the vehicle to waste a huge percentage of its limited energy carrying
heavy air tanks.

Compressed air works in certain situations, mainly in confined spaces like
mines, tunnels etc, where you need to avoid sparks and toxic emissions and
where the introduction of fresh air is beneficial. Otherwise it is just a
waste of energy.