CarBuyersNoteBook

Air Car

Wouldn’t it be great if cars ran on air? Pretty soon, they will. Zero Pollution Motors says it plans to bring a car powered by air to the U.S. sometime in 2009 or 2010. The idea for the Air Car came from a racing vehicle designed by engineer Guy Negre that uses compressed air to drive the pistons inside the motor instead of gasoline combustion. The Air Car carries a small compressor inside that can be filled by plugging the car into any standard electrical outlet. At low speeds the Air Car runs on air stored in a tank onboard.

At higher speeds a small gasoline engine heats the stored air to give it more pressure.  The eight gallon gas tank will take the Air Car approximately 848 miles, or 106 MPG, and at low speeds the Air Car uses no gas and has zero emissions. The six cylinder, 75 horsepower engine attains a top speed of 96 MPH, making the air car practical for both city and highway driving, and giving it an edge over all-electric vehicles which, so far, usually have a much shorter range and a fairly low top speed. No MSRP has been announced for the Air Car, although plans are being made for the vehicle to be manufactured in India by Tata Motors and then sold in the United States.