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46 comments on The Air Car Part 2 - Q & A With Louis Arnoux of IT-MDI
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This car is really neat! It has everything we could ask for, if we are willing to live within its limitations. Known technology, reasonable cost, no degrading parts like batteries, nothing expensive that would need to be replaced, like batteries, no pollution in the inner city core when driving, free Air Conditioning as a byproduct, could heat my hot water tank while I charge it up at home, etc. What is not to really like? Every TODer should be behind this. It will not run into any resource limitation like Lithium Ion batteries will. No one will want to steal it (nothing really valuable in it) but there will sure be a black market in the future for Lithium Ion power packs!
From time-to-time I have used compressed air tools in my work. I have always been impressed with their simplicity, versatility and power.
Thanks everyone for all your hard work on the air car articles. Maybe they will be in full production soon and you can win that X-Car competition for $100 million(?).
==This car is really neat! It has everything we could ask for, if we are willing to live within its limitations.==
Those limitations being a car which goes 30mph and has a 90mile range.
Thats some pretty beefy limits.
==nothing expensive that would need to be replaced==
Except for the entire car body, since it's made out of a single cast carbon-fiber mold.
The air tank itself is also carbon-fiber.
==It will not run into any resource limitation like Lithium Ion batteries will.==
Oh really?
http://greyfalcon.net/biolimits.png
Besides which, a Zebra battery for instance, operates off of Aluminum and Salt.
Can ya beat that?
You make the mistake of assuming that you need lithium ion batteries.
When there are innumerable battery chemistries, and additional chemistries afforded by ultracapacitors.
Especially considering this "Air Car" is actually a hybrid.
Wouldn't it make more sense to compare it to a Series Plugin Electric Hybrid.
Where as the cost of the battery is greatly reduced.
Now if we want to go low-tech/low-cost, then how about a ultracapacitor-plus-lead-acid battery?
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/01/csiro-ultrabatt.html
I don't see it that way. A car like this is perfect for the city. If everyone wants exactly the type of car they now have, it won't happen. The same company that is working on this has made the $2500 car for India. I think they know what things will cost. The air tanks are here and now with no moving parts. They aren't that expensive. But batteries (that don't exist yet) will be expensive. Same for ultra-capacitors. They don't exist yet and will be expensive. This car has real possibilities. It is working today. Nothing about it is exotic.
This same company hasn't produced the $2500 car for India. It was produced by Tata Motors. Tata have some sort of agreement with MDI in regard to MDI technology but, as noted in the posting, Tata do not expect to produce an 'air car' for at least two years.
As far as I know the air car, except for a few prototypes, is not working anywhere today and since 1995 has been only a couple of months away from being commercially released.
==The air tanks are here and now with no moving parts. They aren't that expensive. But batteries (that don't exist yet) will be expensive. Same for ultra-capacitors. They don't exist yet and will be expensive.==
Ah good point.
I guess I should say "SuperCapacitor"
Like those Produced by Maxwell Technologies.
They don't have large storage, but they do have quick storage.
Thats the reason you would have a lead-acid battery mixed with a super-cap.
So you can get the benefits of both quick recharge (for regenerative braking) and a decent volume of storage.
I'd hardly call that mixture "Exotic".
_
And anyways, battery production tends to have a massive "economies of scale" price reduction.
Much in the same way as microprocessors.
On the subject of mixing supercapacitors with lead batteries, check out this report at GCC on a CSIRO initiative:
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/01/csiro-ultrabatt.html
You can also see the AFS Trinity VUE hybrid using supercapacitors to increase battery life. They have submitted a provisional patent on their design and are trying to get auto companies interested.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/01/afs-trinity-unv.html
My idea of a perfect city is one where you don't need any kind of car at all.
Yes, a walkable city would be great. But we have what we have. A few miles South of where I live in Florida is Sun City Center, a retirement community. They use golf carts to get around. It works well for them, but a little beefier car might be better suited to their needs. It would allow them further range mobility than a golf cart, along with better accident protection.
A few other thoughts on the air car: With a pressure outlet you would be able to run air power tools and not need an electric outlet. You could run a generator with the air power in case you needed to. With free air conditioning as a bonus, the car will really work well in the South, like where I live in Florida. I like that idea. The car seems ready-made for DIY projects and garage inventors. We will see what the market thinks after it goes on sale. I hope it is a success. It would seem to have a niche market if it can get established before battery power is able to.