FreeArticlesArchive

A company that I have been following since the late 90's is a company called MDI, now based in Spain the company was founded in France by an inventor called Guy Negre who's background in the Auto Racing industry provided his inspiration.

MDI has created a high performance Auto mobile that runs completely on compressed air technology. In comparison to traditional gas powered engines, the compressed air based technology is infinitely superior in regards to energy used and thermodynamics.

An overview of the AirCar:

The engineering science that MDI vehicles function on is not new, as a matter of fact it had existed for a number of years. Compressed air engineering permits engines to become both non contaminating and frugal for it's user and the environment. Fully 10 years into R&D, MDI is poised to present its environmentally friendly automobiles to the marketplace.

The AirCar by MDI despite reports to the contrary, compare very well to hybrid, electric and the still unavailable hydrogen powered cars. The AirCar is reasonably priced, has a good range of driving distance before needed a fill-up, and it's environmental efficiency compares positively to other so-called eco-cars. They are easy to drive, uncomplicated, inexpensive and reduce the environmental footprint over standard autos, significantly.

The MDI AirCar operates on a safe fuel source(compressed air) that doesn't pose a fire or explosive hazard, does not emit toxic gases and hydrocarbons, is fun to drive and reliable. They plan to release 2 versions initially, a 6 passenger sedan call the CityCat for $16,000 and a smaller 3 seat commuter-car for around $10,000

The way the AirCar works is that an electric pump forces compressed air into a storage tank, the compressed air is then let out to force the movement of pistons to rotate the drive shaft of the vehicle, similar to a standard gasoline engine process. If driving a top speed, the AirCar has a limited range of about 50 miles, but can be stretched out if driving at a lower rate. They are also working on hybrid models that have an unlimited range like a regular automobile. These models will run on a combination of compressed air and fuels such as bio-fuel, gas or diesel. Somewhat more expensive, but capable of greater speeds and distance. The Air-only models satisfy the needs of most city drivers.

The air-only engines will be equipped on both Minicats and Citycats. These automotive powerplants have been formulated for city driving, where the top speed is around 50k. It is already shown that polluting automobiles will be illegal in cities, there are instances of this in several places, such as London, where if you want to drive a gas powered car, you must ante up a fee.

The hybrid-type engine, has been created for the open road as well as for city driving, and will be available as an option in all MDI vehicles. The engines will run exclusively on air when driving below 50 km/h in urban centers. When the automobile is driven outside cities at rates over 50 km/h, the system will transition to fuel mode. The hybrid engine will operate on gasoline, bio fuel, bio diesel,ethanol, alcohol, etc.

Both power plants will be available with 2, 4 and 6 cylinders, once the air tanks are discharged the driver will be able to alternate between fuel mode, thanks to the car's on board data processor.

Environmental benefits? On the Air-Only models the only exhaust output through the tailpipe is hot air?