It's a good concept as an alternative to using generators to store the energy as electricity in batteries. The safety issue that people keep bringing up about the tanks exploding is pretty far fetched. When I was a mechanic Nitrogen pressure cylinders were used extensively back in the 70s on diesel engine equipped vehicles to create "hydro-boost", a device that did not require vacuum like a conventional power brake system. I never heard of any mechanics being hurt with these nor did I hear of one exploding. As a technology high pressure cylinders have been mastered. For example, I have used Oxygen tanks for oxyacetylene torch, brazing etc that were manufactured by the Third Reich in Germany. These tanks are still used and are recognized by the swastica near the top of the tank. The real hazard with tanks of this type is -- as someone else mentioned -- that the valve might be broken off, creating a rocket projectile of enormous power. No such hazard exists with the Chrysler project. Also the proposed compressed Nitrogen method of regenerative power saving is more reliable and does not require expensive replacement of all those batteries every 5 years, which is the real killer of all electric cars and is why they will never live up to expectation. Chrysler is on a good track with this and I commend them for their engineering and research and development.
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It's a good concept as an alternative to using generators to store the energy as electricity in batteries. The safety issue that people keep bringing up about the tanks exploding is pretty far fetched. When I was a mechanic Nitrogen pressure cylinders were used extensively back in the 70s on diesel engine equipped vehicles to create "hydro-boost", a device that did not require vacuum like a conventional power brake system. I never heard of any mechanics being hurt with these nor did I hear of one exploding. As a technology high pressure cylinders have been mastered. For example, I have used Oxygen tanks for oxyacetylene torch, brazing etc that were manufactured by the Third Reich in Germany. These tanks are still used and are recognized by the swastica near the top of the tank. The real hazard with tanks of this type is -- as someone else mentioned -- that the valve might be broken off, creating a rocket projectile of enormous power. No such hazard exists with the Chrysler project. Also the proposed compressed Nitrogen method of regenerative power saving is more reliable and does not require expensive replacement of all those batteries every 5 years, which is the real killer of all electric cars and is why they will never live up to expectation. Chrysler is on a good track with this and I commend them for their engineering and research and development.