Anyone who has ever aimed a can of compressed air at a filthy keyboard can attest, just as petrified crumbs and bits of detritus rocket everywhere, there’s a lot of power in that little can.
A French inventor believes it is now possible to harness the power of compressed air to propel even a vehicle.
Welcome to one of the most radical energy-saving ideas to hit the automotive industry in years: the “Air Car”, a revolutionary low-pollution automobile engine that runs on compressed air and petrol.
French inventor, Guy Nègre, has been working on the concept for 16 years, and finally may have made the essential breakthroughs to bring the project to the streets. He claims the car will cost the owner less than one euro per 100 kilometres driven.
And, because there is no combustion, there is no pollution. For those who hate to get their hands dirty under the hood, the car requires an oil change just once every 50,000 kilometres.
The
Air Car concept, designed by Negre’s company, Moteur Developpment International, is still in the prototype stage, but it’s generating increasing interest from auto manufacturers and buzz from the automotive press.
Negre recently won a major vote of confidence when India’s largest automobile manufacturer, Tata Motors, entered into an alliance to adapt a fleet of urban vehicles to the MDI’s air-powered motor in which a concentrated jet of air is delivered to a two-stroke engine.
MDI itself hopes to have its own
roadworthy models on the market in the coming months. The car will carry a retail price of about $10,000 (5,000 pounds).
Read page two.
Published on 1 August 2007
