The Air Car Nears Completion

torok writes "According to an article on Gizmag, Tata, India's largest automotive manufacturer, has developed a car that runs on compressed air. It costs less than $3 USD to fill a tank on which it can run for 200 to 300km. The car will cost about USD $7,300 and has a top speed of 68mph. About once every 50,000 km you have to change the oil (1 liter of vegetable oil). Initial plans are to produce 3,000 cars per year."

it runs on "wind" power

[User 956]

According to an article on Gizmag, Tata, India's largest automotive manufacturer, has developed a car that runs on compressed air.

Well, if you eat a lot of Tandoori, this is a great use for that compressed air.

Danger...

[LurkerXXX]

Did half-life 2 teach us NOTHING about the dangers of compressed air cannisters?

well...

[Chimera512]

this looks like the ultimate in vaporware, an as yet unavailable vehicle and runs on "air" might as well run on magic aether or unicorn blood. you can't even see air. pfft.

Re:Countdown till said inventor disappears...

[paeanblack]

Seriously, how many brilliant inventions have we heard of lately, and how many of those vanish just days after being announced?

What about the far greater number of brillant inventions that vanish before we ever hear about them in the first place?!?!

If you are going to play the paranoid lunatic, aim high. There is no market for half-assed tin-hattery.

Re:Air

[The Dobber]

More like

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 

Wow

[Tired and Emotional]

2-3 hundred kilometres - that's long downslope.

Re:Danger...

[daves]

I thought it was "Jaws".

Re:Lack of good info

[The Dobber]

It's India, you've probably got three or four kids pedaling stationary bikes to charge the tank.

Re:Danger...

[DrLex]

Yes, it learns that in the future, the whole planet will be littered with them. Which makes sense, if this air car would be successful.
Following the same line of thought, there will also be a need for massive amounts of explosive barrels and crates with medkits.

Re:Uranus alone could provide much of the needed g

[cashman73]

So could Washington, D.C. Plenty of hot air there!

Bodacious

[greenmars]

Those are some bodacious Tatas.

Re:Environmental considerations

[el_gordo101]

A heating system for a vehicle like this is going to be very expensive from a power consideration.

Just use a coal stove in the passenger compartment. Simple, really.

The Air Car

[Kozar_The_Malignant]

Damn. I read that headline and thought my flying car was almost ready.

Re:That's not the case here

[HTH NE1]

The best thing about this car is that air-conditioning is very easy and costs no energy. As the air decompresses in the engine, it cools off. Directing that air into the cabin would provide air-conditioning with just about no effort.

Thing is, in some parts of the world, we still have this thing called "Winter".

AirCar

[Anonymous Coward]

AirCar!!!!

2007!?

But, where are my frck_n moonboots?!!?

Re:Countdown till said inventor disappears...

[Chris Burke]

If you are going to play the paranoid lunatic, aim high. There is no market for half-assed tin-hattery.

But if there's a market for half-tinned ass-hattery, then I'm set!

Flat tire?

[Nyktos]

Pesky kids let the air out of your tires, just fill em back up with your fuel... or run out of fuel, fill from your tires.

So Has George W. Bush Scheduled The Hit Yet?

[Skeetskeetskeet]

This will cut into his oil profits.

Re:India

[User 956]

If you have ever been to India you can see that this is infact a great idea.

Yeah, but I really would have thought the Dutch would have come up with this idea first. The Dutch have been powering their Ovens with compressed gas for years.

Re:Countdown till said inventor disappears...

[Anonymous Coward]

You are obviously not paranoid enough.

Re:Countdown till said inventor disappears...

[ozmanjusri]

Perhaps you need to embroaden your perspective a tad?

Yes, and it's a good idea to embiggen your vocabulary at the same time.

Re:I'm planning on getting one asap

[KermodeBear]

Smug Alert! [tv.com]

Exxon/Mobile...

[Organic Brain Damage]

... was just granted the distribution rights to compressed air in the USA. They will sell you enough compressed air to go 200 km for $60.00.

Re:Air

[cammoblammo]

Do these things go faster than light? It's the only way I can explain the fact that the first post is modded redundant.

Re:Danger...

[ScoLgo]

"Say bye bye to all windows in the neighbourhood."

Fine. Just as long as it leaves other OS'es alone.

I had something like this...

[The-Bus]

It used a skateboard and common cans of whipped cream. It never did propel me anywhere, but it was delicious.

Re:You forgot one

[Maniakes]

Head on over to USPTO.gov, and show me the invention that solves the energy crisis.

How about this? [uspto.gov]

You just need to find a way to harness the cat's kinetic energy in a usable form.

Re:Countdown till said inventor disappears...

[Tibor the Hun]

I need to embetter my dictionary then, I thought that embroaden was a perfectly cromulent word!

Re:I'm impressed

[compwizrd]

lift it, wait for the earth to rotate, put it back down.. you can probably pick up some regenerative braking energy on the way down.

Re:You forgot one

[Anonymous Coward]

More to the point, Exxon and Mobil would probably corner the market on distilled water and water distribution firms in a matter of days. Then start telling you how their water has a higher concentration of the wonder element, H2Go, and how it keeps your tank cleaner.

Re:I'm impressed

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh great. So my 20 mile commute to work will take 1 minute and 9 seconds - but it'll take me 23 hours, 58 minutes and 51 seconds to get home again. :|

I think it might be easier to move closer to work and bike.

((Commute ~ 20 miles / Earth's circumference ~ 24900 miles) * (24 hours * 60 minutes that it takes the earth to rotate)) = time in minutes for my commute.

Re:India

[Hawthorne01]

That's right, this car was developed in France.

And France, of course, surrendered the manufacturing of it to India.

;-)

Re:Dutch Ovens

[glittalogik]

Also known as a duvet-hovercraft conversion.

Re:That's not the case here

[FrostedChaos]

Just put in a heating element and power it off the battery. Or run the motor a little bit.

"How to use energy to make stuff hot" is hardly an unsolved problem in engineering.

Re:Danger...

[Tablizer]

You can flick a lit cigarette into an open bucket of gas if it has sat a while, and [the gas will] put out the cigarette. It sounds weird, but it's true.

Somebody was dancing with the Darwin Award.
         

Re:India

[Brad1138]

Indian strees are swamped with three-wheeled-pull-start-lawnmower-powered Rickshaws and the air is noxious

I'll take the job. Potato salad!

Re:That's not the case here

[jbrader]

So then you turn a valve and the cold air doesn't come in anymore. You fucking idiot.

Re:Danger...

[JonathanR]

It would be good, 'cause it would turn them into x-windows