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What if you were told that there was a car that runs entirely on air? Would you believe that it exists or would you dismiss the idea as too far-fetched? A French company called MDI has created a small vehicle that runs on compressed air and therefore, it produces no harmful emissions. In a world of ever increasing worry about the environment, this provides the perfect alternative to driving cars that do produce emissions, no matter how little. What is even more surprising is that this vehicle was first prototyped in 1920.
How Does It Work?
The engine is fuelled by the compressed air and the resulting pressure, which is altered by the throttle, determines the speed of the vehicle. The air is stored in a lightweight tank at a very high pressure and, when expanded, the compressed air forces the pistons. The advantages to the Air Car are obviously that it produces no emissions, that it is cheap to store the air and that it only takes a few hours to fill the air tanks (about three to four before you are ready to go). If you are in a hurry, just find a high compressed air station and your air tank will be full in about two minutes. Keep in mind, however, that the Minicat, the latest model, only reaches about 110 kilometres an hour and has a range of about 150 kilometres. So, while it sounds great in theory, for those who do a lot of driving it may not be very practical.
Cost
The Air Car, also known as the urban car, the micro car and now the Minicat, has been in Europe for some time now. Every model sells for less than 10,000 Euros with the Minicat being the most expensive at 9450 Euros (just under $16,000 Canadian). But don’t try to buy one from overseas. According to one environment-devoted website that claims to “obsessively cover the green scene,” if you are interested in buying an Air Car, you are re-routed to another webpage and encouraged to leave contact information. “If you want to purchase the car, the website offers a form that promises to get back in touch with further information once the factories are settled. Does this mean MDI couldn’t find authorizations to build such factories? Could it mean they didn’t have enough investors?” These are interesting and perfectly reasonable questions given the seeming uncertainty of the company. However, if North Americans are interested in any of the Air Car models, instead of taking a chance and attempting to purchase from Europe, they won’t have to wait much longer because they will be coming here in 2010.
The Harmful Effects Of Cars
With the environment at the front of people’s minds, the opportunity to make a smaller carbon footprint is well received. A regular vehicle emits nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, carbon dioxide, lead, carbon monoxide and particulate matter – and that is if it’s well maintained. A vehicle that is not maintained will emit all of those plus hydrocarbons.
Nitrogen oxides are lung irritants. Over time, they can wreak havoc on the respiratory tract and cause serious illness. They also react with other chemicals in the air to create acid rain and smog. Acid rain destroys trees, plants and any other vegetation.
Sulphur oxides are similar to nitrogen oxides in that they help to produce acid rain, which destroys trees, plants and makes lakes and other bodies of water acidic. It also causes respiratory damage and increases problems in existing lung and heart disease.
Carbon dioxide has the most significant effect on global warming. Global warming is responsible for severe changes in weather such as droughts and floods.
Lead causes the most problems within the human body. It damages the brain, nerves and heart, as well as poisoning the blood.
Carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless gas that, when inhaled in high doses, acts as a poison that blocks blood flow to the brain, eventually causing the person to pass out.
Particulate matter is soot that is emitted from the tailpipe of a vehicle and inhaled by people close by. The number of health problems that particulate matter can cause is endless, but the most significant are shortness of breath, respiratory disease, lung tissue damage and cancer.
The Car of Tomorrow?
When you look at all the ways that cars can make people sick, the option of the Air Car seems to be a clear solution to this problem. However, as with all new products, manufacturers will need to develop sleek designs to fit consumer’s changing tastes.
Although it was first prototyped in 1920, developers have kept it relatively secret. Maybe their reason was that they didn’t think we would be ready for it. Maybe they were right. As sad as it is, maybe the manufacturers had to wait until the world was in crisis to unveil their secret weapon. We will just have to wait and see if consumers take the bait.
Photo:
mdiaircars.com
Sources:
www.autobloggreen.com
www.stuffintheair.com
mdiaircars.com
www.hybridcars.com
www.mdi.lu
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