The Air Powered Cars- 5 different companies and motors...types...Australia,
Developers and manufacturers[edit]
Various companies are investing in the research, development and deployment of Compressed air cars. Overoptimistic reports of impending production date back to at least May 1999. For instance, the MDI Air Car made its public debut in South Africa in 2002,[18] and was predicted to be in production "within six months" in January 2004.[19] As of January 2009, the air car never went into production in South Africa. Most of the cars under development also rely on using similar technology to low-energy vehicles in order to increase the range and performance of their cars.[clarification needed]
MDI[edit]
MDI has proposed a range of vehicles made up of AIRPod, OneFlowAir, CityFlowAir, MiniFlowAir and MultiFlowAir.[20] One of the main innovations of this company is its implementation of its "active chamber", which is a compartment which heats the air (through the use of a fuel) in order to double the energy output.[21] This 'innovation' was first used in torpedoes in 1904.
Tata Motors[edit]
As of January 2009 Tata Motors of India had planned to launch a car with an MDI compressed air engine in 2011.[22][23] In December 2009 Tata's vice president of engineering systems confirmed that the limited range and low engine temperatures were causing problems.
Tata Motors announced in May 2012[24] that they have assessed the design passing phase 1, the "proof of the technical concept" towards full production for the Indian market. Tata has moved onto phase 2, "completing detailed development of the compressed air engine into specific vehicle and stationary applications".[25]
In February 2017 Dr. Tim Leverton, president and head at Advanced and Product Engineering at Tata revealed was at a point of "starting industrialisation" with the first vehicles to be available by 2020.[26] Other reports indicate Tata is also looking at reviving plans for a compressed air version of the Tata Nano[27], which had previously been under consideration as part of their collaboration with MDI.[28]
Engineair[edit]
Engineair is an Australian company which has produced prototypes of a variety of prototype small vehicles using an innovative rotary air engine designed by Angelo Di Pietro. The company is seeking commercial partners to utilise its engine.[29]
Peugeot/Citroën[edit]
Peugeot and Citroën have announced that they too are building a car that uses compressed air as an energy source. However, the car they are designing uses a hybrid system which also uses a gasoline engine (which is used for propelling the car over 70 km/h, or when the compressed air tank has been depleted).[30][31]
APUQ[edit]
APUQ (Association de Promotion des Usages de la Quasiturbine) has made the APUQ Air Car, a car powered by a Quasiturbine.[32]
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