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Zero Pollution Motors: Air to stay?

By Rain Noe - January 20, 2009

in Object Culture

We were excited when we heard about Zero Pollution Motors and their air-powered car back in '07, but with no news from them in all of '08, we assumed that they folded.

The good news is they're still cranking, and will reportedly begin taking orders this year for their air-powered cars, allegedly deliverable in 2010.

Pure Driving: The Revolutionary Compressed Air Vehicle

If you can, imagine a vehicle that runs on air, achieves over 100 gas-equivalent mpg and over 90 mph, has zero to low C02 emissions, seats six, has plenty of space for luggage, cuts no safety corners, and costs no more than an average economy to mid-size vehicle.

This is the expected performance of the revolutionary compressed air vehicle that Zero Pollution Motors (ZPM) is introducing to North America. The vehicle is powered by the Compressed Air Engine (CAE) developed by Motor Development International (MDI), a 15-year old company based in Nice, France, and headed by inventor and Formula One race car engineer, Guy Negre.

ZPM will begin taking reservations in mid-2009 for US deliveries of our compressed air vehicle in 2010.

Curious? Click here to see some videos about the tech on the company's website.

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gnom dh

15 years ago

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Here's the XPrize link for MDI/ZPM: http://www.progressiveautoxprize.org/teams/mdi-zpm

Also, check out the following links for more information on the FlowAir motor design and associated technologies:

http://www.thefuture.net.nz/mdi_tech.htm
http://www.itmdi-energy.com/

One of the things that we have to focus on is the shift from fossil fuels to other sources of energy. Why? Peak Oil. I am completely stunned by how many people have not even heard of this term, yet it has been around since the 1970's. We are on the brink of not only destroying our environment, but also completely crippling our society's infrastructure. This new FlowAir engine technology offers us a medium in which to wean ourselves off of our current black oil addiction.

We are like a bunch of stubborn kids with absolutely no imagination... Let's pay attention and start thinking outside the box for a change, OK!?!
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Daniel

15 years ago

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I'd love to see this technology work, but physics gives us good reasons why this may not happen.
Compressed air, even when contained in the lightest carbon fiber tanks, has an energy density 4 to 5 times worse than lithium ion batteries, and is orders of magnitude worse than gasoline. It's better than a wind-up spring, but not by much.
Wikipedia energy density listings (MJ/kg):
0.14_compressed air
0.54-0.72_lithium ion battery
46.4_gasoline
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Brian

15 years ago

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They've been promising that they'll have a car on sale "next year" for close to a decade now. I've seen the engineering breakdown on what their vehicles will REALLY be capable of, and the answer is: Not much. The amount of compressed air that they can hold is equal to about 1.5 gallons of gas. The BEST these cars will ever be able to do is the same as one of those neighborhood electric vehicles that are little more than glorified golf carts.
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raoul

15 years ago

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Sorry I forget this link for the small 3 wholes Airpod of MDI for 2009 :

http://www.ecolo-trader.fr/AIRPOD-vehicule-a-air-comprime-aux-couleurs-de--vtptc-150.php

;))
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raoul

15 years ago

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a french link when I contact in direct M. G. NEGRE ceo of MDI :

http://www.ecolo-trader.fr/Premiere-immatriculation-de-la-voiture-a-air-compr-vtptc-94.php

;)

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