Tata Intends To Sell Air-Powered Car In India

Diggester writes "Tata Motors (an Indian car manufacturer) is changing things up with the first car to run on air, the Airpod. The Airpod's technology was originally created in France at Motor Development International but has since been bought by Tata in hopes of bringing it to the Indian consumer car market. With virtually zero emissions and at the cost of about a penny per kilometer, it is definitely one of the most environmentally and economically friendly vehicles in the world. The tank holds about 175 liters of compressed air that can be filled at special stations or by activating the on-board electric motor to suck air in from the outside. Costing about $10,000, this car could beat out most smart cars from the market." If flying cars aren't available, sucking cars seem like a nice stop-gap.

Comments

NEVER

[sanman2]

Nobody's going to buy that piece of crap. It's a glorified golf cart.
Even India's poor are already turning up their noses to the Tata Nano, preferring to buy established foreign models.

I think the Nano is a great benefit to the poor, especially the upcoming diesel model, because it's designed specifically for 3rd world conditions. It even has better ground clearance because of India's pot-holed roads. The only other thing it needs to come with, is a bumper-sticker calling for ruling thug-ocracy to be thrown out.

Re:NEVER

[EdIII]

I would probably buy one, and I live in the US. It would depend on how much it costs to run the pump and get a full tank.

Back in 2000 I was driving a gas guzzling huge SUV. When gas was consistently cheap it was never a real consideration for me. That changed in a hurry with the gas prices. Bought several Priuses since then, and lately I have reorganized my life so that I have to travel dramatically less.

In the last two years I walk to the grocery store. I buy less food (only what I can carry), have lost considerably weight, and eat better.

My work commute is 5-8 minutes. No problems doing that in a little car like that, especially if it is zero emissions, good for the environment, and cheap to operate.

I tend to stick close to home, ride a bike for long distances, and generally have changed my spending habits and how I relax. This kind of car actually fits to my lifestyle, and I don't think I would be the only one. Betting there is a market in the US as well.

Re:NEVER

[fredprado]

In average Indians do have a low income in USD. Still if just 3% of then can afford this car that makes roughly 40 million people. Which is more than the whole population of Canada, for example. I am quite sure that more than 3% of its population can afford this price, especially considering that ontrary to your belief conventional cars already sell more than this there at considerably higher prices than this.

And no, there isn't a huge market for Ferraris anywhere in the world. Ferrari doesn't need a huge market though, it is quite content with its very small market of very rich people.

Re:NEVER

[donscarletti]

Just because a population is in the tens of millions does not make for an appreciable proportion of the total when dealing with China and India.

Beijing (where I live), Shanghai and Shenzhen are rich and up to developed standards. What you would find in the heartland of Henan, Sichuan, Hunan, Hubei would be considered to be very poor. What you would find in the mountains of Tibet and Guizhou however would simply shock most westerners. I have not been to India, but it's HDI is far below China's.

Re:NEVER

[tibit]

To me, inflation is defined by the buying power of my money. As far as I'm concerned, the dollar has lost 50% of its buying power since 1999, averaged across what I personally buy (groceries, gas, household items, furniture, some building materials). That "low" inflation is someone's joke.

I read the article

[Anonymous Coward]

but I don't see where the range of the car is..?

a penny a kilometer is nice and all, but I would like to see range and top speed, etc. Is there anyplace I can find this?

This car is sort of a deathtrap

[FreakerSFX]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airpod

Let's assume that Wikipedia is accurate here...

220kg of Poly-urethane and fiberglass - even with the range they claim (which is good) this vehicle will never be viable outside of 3rd world markets. It's never going to pass a safety test because it's a deathtrap. Still it may find a niche market and I am a fan of non-petroleum concepts.

Re:This car is sort of a deathtrap

[bussdriver]

I do not know if the old tanks were fiberglass ones it was sooo long ago when I looked into it - way before this new airpod "car" I never heard of that. I thought they'd get the cat car out the door by now.... Every few years it seems they started over again with a smaller car until this pod thing.

Cheap tanks will do more harm when they blow - but we are STILL talking about a non-combustion non-flammable situation and relatively LOW potential energy. This is not a tank full of a chemical reaction waiting to happen; it is merely a pressure differential. Hauling a propane tank in your car is more dangerous (or having a propane converted car.)

The MDI CAR (the wagon-like 1st car) was a deathtrap of compact car design; the tanks were not the issue, the car was GLUED together and they always had a loud engine problem. They likely will include a small fuel tank as a heater because you can get more from the air by heating it going into the engine.

In 3rd world places without any laws of the roads I think car safety is probably not your biggest worry. If your tanks blow air toward the other driver you might become like the porcupine of the road.

Actually I thought the technology was well suited for small boats where electrics are not so great of an idea. The noise in the water would help too, and air exhaust could be creatively used.

Aircars are Last Place as Primary Movers

[CodeBuster]

While the use of a pneumatic air system to recover energy from braking for use in subsequent starts does have some merit in a hybrid configuration, the idea of a vehicle powered completely by compressed air has been very thoroughly discredited in the published research papers. Yes, it can be done but it's terribly inefficient; almost no other vehicle is less efficient than compressed air, even battery powered vehicles are better. The wiki article on compressed air cars has a comprehensive list of their rather substantial disadvantages. Really the only situations where air cars are even considered are those where sparks or burning of fuels make both internal combustion and electric too dangerous and where their limited range and power are not substantial disadvantages. As one might imagine, these circumstances occur rarely and only in specialized situations (most notably in underground coal mines). Bottom line: air cars are simply not competitive as general purpose vehicles and basically never will be due to the laws of thermodynamics and ideal gas among others. Those who buy an air car without understanding these things are likely to be very disappointed with their vehicle's performance. I predict many angry Indian air car owners complaining about how they were ripped off and lied to by the green marketeers who said whatever it took to make the sale.