Tata Motors, a India-based car manufacturer,
has signed a licence agreement with Motor Development International (MDI), a French
design firm, in 2007 to build a car that could run on compressed
air. Now Tata says it has tested two cars with the engines and the next step is
setting up the manufacturing plants to actually build them.
The working theory of compressed air car engine is similar to the internal
combustion engine. Conventionally the combusted gasoline forces pistons to turn a crankshaft and run
the car. In compressed air car the pistons
are moved by air instead of gasoline. According to Tata/MDI, the car could reach the speed of 80km/h with traveling range between 150km and 200km.
The another good thing about this car is that it only costs about Euro$7,500, besides being zero-emission.
Before this car can be on the Malaysia road, the safety of the high-pressure compressed air has to be addressed. The car needs more than 4,000 psi of compressed air to run. This pressure will make the car like a moving bomb. Any rupture in the storage tank will be devastating.
cute car design but so much risk comes with it..
ReplyDelete