Er, no, sorry that's not it.
Can't work this 'search' system!
Regards
John S
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It's on Quentin Willson's page with a photo in the Mirror today. Says tops speed is 68mph, range is 125 miles, engine is 600cc and "costs just £1 to refuel with compressed air at any filling station". So you get up to 125 miles for £1. Leaves the question, how much energy does it take to compress the air?
HJ
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"Leaves the question, how much energy does it take to compress the air?"
Unless someone has invented perpetual motion it will take more energy to compress the air than the energy which will be be regained from it.
So, if my maths/logic is correct, if you are going to do, say 125 miles at around 60 mph taking two hours at say 50 bhp, you will need to input ten horsepower for at least ten hours to recharge the system.
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Heard this subject aired on Talk Radio today - Mike Rutherford's show. It is true but the problem remains that the energy used to compress the air to the pressure required still has to come from somewhere. I think the conscensus was that it's a bit like electric cars whereby the emissions are effectively transferred from the cars to the power stations which provide the electricity for recharging them. The primary benefit of the air powered car therefore seems to be cleaner air in towns and the energy needed for the compressors still has to be produced from somewhere.
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Phew! (exhalation of hot air). We got somewhere, then.
HJ
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Surely the question is 'is it real or bull?
I have the feeling its a scam, but hey we might get lucky
www.theaircar.com/
DrewIt's on Quentin Willson's page with a photo in the Mirror today. Says tops speed is 68mph, range is 125 miles, engine is 600cc and "costs just £1 to refuel with compressed air at any filling station". So you get up to 125 miles for £1. Leaves the question, how much energy does it take to compress the air? HJ
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Here's the site.
www.theaircar.com/index.html
There are a few different versions - pickups, family cars (although it looks closer to a mini MPV), vans or taxis. Not sure what the difference between the MPV & the taxi is, unless the MPV doesn't have a sliding door. The site goes into some detail to explain how it works, with a couple of diagrams and an animated graphic. Neat idea, using the "exhaust" air to run the air con.
I agree with the comments above, in that the energy production to compress the air has to come from somewhere (and it won't be my bicycle pump). Still, wind/hydro-electric/wave/solar powered compression would in effect mean close to zero pollution for running the thing. and local air quality would be vastly improved if they took off. Just a pity the things are so da** ugly!
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Just a pity the things are so [expletive deleted] ugly!
That's just the point made in the current sunday supplement advert for the Honda Innsight (whoops, Freudian typo).
The line is to the effect that "a car this technologically advanced, you'd expect to look like a cardboard box"
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It's not a scam - the cars are real and Mike Rutherford is going to meet the company's technical boffins at the forthcoming Paris Motorshow with a view to doing a follow-up piece on his Friday PM motoring slot sometime afterwards (BTW it's on Talk-Sport 1053-1089am. Hope that's okay to mention Mark, HJ etc..
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