Quick Hits: Driving on Air

Mary McGuire  Jun 05, 2008 2:45 pm

Quick Hits: Driving on Air
 
Brief scrutiny of today's headlines
 

 
Necessity: Still the mother of invention.

High gas prices are fueling American ingenuity. The innovative minds at Zero Pollution Motors are capitalizing on consumers' gas woes and producing a vehicle that runs on compressed air. It's currently taking orders for the autos, which are expected to hit streets in 2010.

Under 35 miles per hour, the vehicle will be powered exclusively by air. To attain speeds above this marker, the car of the future will rely on a six-cylinder, 75 horsepower engine that gets a remarkable 100 miles to the gallon and produces emissions up to four times less than today's average vehicle.

This news means of transportation, with a design that resembles the Smart Car, is projected to cost about $18,000. Oil changes will only be necessary every 31,000 miles. Instead of a speedometer, a computer will digitally display the car's vital signs on the dashboard.

As expensive gas begins to close the door on SUVs, like General Motors’ (GM) Yukon or Ford’s (F) Explorer, the best and brightest are finding fresh ideas by opening windows.

For more on alternative energy, check out Hoofy & Boo's always astute report:



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Comments (3) See All Comments »
06-05-2008, 2:35 pm
Compared to a "plug-in" electric/hybrid (current design), the air car requires 3 times the electricity for a comparable range. Other drawbacks include the danger of a bursting air tank. This is not to say there are not advantages, vis-a
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06-06-2008, 1:30 am
This is all very cool, but we need something bigger ... something that sets us on a progressive course offering prosperity and abundance.

In as much as landing a man on the moon took but political will and perseverance, so too would a h
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06-06-2008, 3:40 am
First off, this idea is apparently French.
Second, when this idea is viewed through the lenses of thermodynamics it looks more like a traveling medicine show than ingenuity. To put this in engineering terms, the internal energy (enthalpy) loss
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