There have been several car manufacturers looking to find some greener ways to replace their not-so environment friendly products. One such practice that you might soon get to notice commonly is the transition from gasoline-fueled cars to air-fueled cars. The petroleum sources are getting lowly depleted, and thus, there is a need to adopt alternative sources that could offer power to modern-day cars. Manufacturers are finding air to be a renewable and easily accessible source of energy. While air cannot be used alone to fuel a car, it can surely be compressed to drive the pistons powering the car. Let us check out more about this airy technology.
The Advantages
The usage of compressed air to power a car engine would not produce pollution at the car’s tailpipe. Basically, future air cars have been predicted not to pollute the environment at all unless they reach a speed of more than 35 miles/hour. A higher speed would also cause a little emission only and that’s because the air compressor responsible for speeding would be powered by a small amount of fuel. The upcoming compressed air engines would also allow the usage of bio-fuels to heat the air that enters the engine. In comparison to cars running on the engine’s internal combustion technology, air-fueled cars would show a marked technological improvement. Air cars are also designed to be lighter than the conventional cars so they get more fuel-efficient. Since these cars run on a cheaper fuel, these are claimed to come at a cheaper price too.
The Impact
If the air car technology becomes available soon, we cannot be sure of the availability of compressed air pumps at the filling stations. There would be only a few such stations initially and that could create an impact on frequent travelers. The distance an air car would be able to cover without being refueled is an issue for such travelers. Traveling for short commutes would be okay, but waiting a long time for getting it refueled is major time wastage while you would be on a cross-country trip. In addition, a compressed air tank could be dangerous, especially in case of an accident. Though these tanks are being designed to crack during an accident, there could be a propelling effect to the car! There are also concerns about these cars being lightweight. Would they be able to pass the standard tests? Well, these concerns need to be addressed before air cars impact the lives of drivers.
Some Examples
- The MDI’s American arm, Zero Pollution Motors, is planning to make available an air car that would be able to travel up to 1,000 miles on just one tank of air, along with eight gallons of gas.
- Tata Motors of India is likely to soon produce an air car with the CAE engine.
- MDI has unveiled AirPod that is driven by a joystick. This can be an addition to the air car market.
- There have been some prototypes created for air-fueled light vehicles by the French company named K’Air Energy.
- The Spanish company, Air Car Factories SA, has also been developing an air car engine.
So, we can see that there are opportunities in the air car industry and several manufacturers are already involved in the race.