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Car Powered by Compressed Air

Posted by timothy on from the switched-from-suck-to-blow dept.

gripperzipper writes "CNN reports that a Korean company created a small car powered by compressed air. ENERGINE created its PHEV, or Pneumatic-Hybrid Electric Vehicle, which uses a two-stroke compressed air engine for start, acceleration, and uphill climbs. The car switches to an electric motor when its speed reaches 20-25 km/h (32-40 mi/h). Although major auto manufacturers have invested heavily in gasoline hybrids, it will be interesting to see if a market will open for this type of vehicle." Update: 04/04 17:18 GMT by T : Reader Tapsu spotted the incongruity here, writing "Interesting post, but the speed conversion has gone wrong way: "20-25 km/h (32-40 mi/h)". ... Thus the correct speed range in miles would be something like 12-15 mi/h."

7 of 409 comments (clear)

  1. Say goodbye to free air by BobPaul · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I hope it has an external refil port for the compressed air tank. This will be a great way to take advantage of stations that offer "Free Air" (and also, unfortunately, prompt a decrease in the number of stations offering "free air"...)

    1. Re:Say goodbye to free air by Rei · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The compressed air from a gas station could barely provide any stored energy.

      Compressed air has great power density, but awful energy density. I.e., you can unload power incredibly quickly from it, but can't store much at all. Even batteries store far more energy in a given mass. This sounds like a big step in the wrong direction, honestly.

      --
      You don't exist. Go away.
    2. Re:Say goodbye to free air by XMyth · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Yea. A friend of mine recently researched using compressed air to run his house (and subsequently creating a solar powered air pump, using a sun-tracking reflective satellite dish) and eventually came to the same conclusion you just said.

      What is interesting about compressed air though, the energy you get out of it is NOT what you have put into it. The energy comes from the ambient temperature of the air. This means that if a compression technique could be found that is efficient enough then you could have a potential self filling energy tank.

      Unfortunately, like you said, the air doesn't have *that* much energy. Still thought that concept was interesting though.

  2. Nothing But Hot Air by pressesc · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Here is another take on the same story, but with a little bit more science. The bottom line is there's no such thing as free energy... or lunch. You don't get owt for nowt. CNN needs to learn science

  3. Re:Still energy by homer_ca · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Yes, but it might be cheaper than a pure electric car because they they can get away with a less powerful motor and power controller. The motor charges up the air tank when the car is idling or braking. Then the compressed air is used for short bursts of extra power when needed like accelerating or climbing hills. Otherwise it's just like a battery electric car with a heavy, expensive battery pack.

  4. It's probably already obsolete by panurge · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If the Toshiba announcement about a better traction battery is correct. Electric motors can have practically an ideal torque/rpm curve, but the current demands for high starting torque are a problem. The holy grail is a battery which has effectively an enormous surface to the electrodes without corresponding fragility, and so can be quickly recharged and discharged. (Traction batteries currently have a long service life but relatively slow charge and discharge. Starter batteries have a fast discharge for starting but are fragile and do not deep discharge well). Such a battery would completely supersede the inefficient compress air/decompress air cycle. So whichever compressed air tools division of this Korean manufacturer came up with this job preservation scheme - forget it and retrain as battery engineers.

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    Panurge has posted for the last time. Thanks for the positive moderations.
  5. Neocons by MarkusQ · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Neocons are children who don't want their toys taken away, and won't clean their room because it isn't fun.

    Thank you for recognizing that the distinction between the present domanant "neo-conservative" group think party in the US and true conservatives. True conservatives wouldn't have bought the toys in the first place (we're compulsive savers) and wouldn't have let the room get messy for fear of unspecified adverse consequences. True conservatives (I know, I am one) are more likely to avoid doing things because they are fun (on the principle that the more atractive the lure, the more likely it is to be bait).

    --MarkusQ