The Air Car Nears Completion

torok writes "According to an article on Gizmag, Tata, India's largest automotive manufacturer, has developed a car that runs on compressed air. It costs less than $3 USD to fill a tank on which it can run for 200 to 300km. The car will cost about USD $7,300 and has a top speed of 68mph. About once every 50,000 km you have to change the oil (1 liter of vegetable oil). Initial plans are to produce 3,000 cars per year."

Comments

Stupid

[SirBruce]

The thing is there isn't just a lot of compressed air lying around. Thanks to thermodynamics, it costs more to compress the air than what we get out of it when we uncompress it. And it's probably oil or coal burning plants that compress the air. So this isn't solving anything. The reason gasoline is so useful is that it's already been made by nature, so we can get energy out without putting very much energy in. So that only leaves compressed air as a useful energy storage device, and I have to suspect that the other alternatives (hydrogen, fuel cells, electric) do better in that department.

Re:I'm impressed

[JesseL]

Would you care to show the math to back up that assertion?

Meanwhile at Ford...

[Lou-ice]

I heard Ford has just developed a new shade of red paint! That's kind of like automotive innovation...

I'm planning on getting one asap

[pair-a-noyd]

I saw this on The Science Channel and I knew instantly that I had to have one.
I'm going to put solar panels up to power the compressor.
Then I plan to drive around to all the gas stations, pull up to the pump
sit there a minute then proclaim "No, I don't think so." as I pull away with a huge shit eating grin.

FU to all the mega corporations that have made it religion to rape the little people into utter poverty.

Live free or die! (Through recycling)

Re:You forgot one

[symbolic]

The capitalistic douche bags that will do anything to keep a new technology (a threat to their entrenched interests) from entering the market, no matter how good it is.

Re:Got your AFDB out yet?

[ryangrayson]

If only we could find technologies like this to spend 450 billion dollars on... then again maybe your right it's a pipe dream. Let's just use the money for a war in Iraq instead.

When Americans do that, it's "Outsourcing"

[billstewart]

This "French surrendering" meme was annoying after the first couple of jokes. None of the jingoist US politicians (including Jay Leno....) who propagated it wanted to talk about the "French Resistance" or even the French Foreign Legion, and they certainly didn't want anybody referring to their enemies as "The Iraqi Resistance".

On the other hand, if you want to joke about French cars, go ahead. :-) My grandmother really loved her Peugeot, but most of my experience with the things is been Renaults (marginally better than Fiat) or Citroens (looks like an early VW hit by a trash can, but it's not that reliable.)