It was a great headline and some of the best promotion a motor vehicle builder would want but it will be highly unlikely that vehicle conglomerate Tata will produce the Nano Minicar for the reported $2500 retail price tag, However thats not what this site is all about but the Indian monster manufacturer have reported to expect a future release of a compressed air model.
The original petrol model was to deliver 25Kw (33hp) and of course a CO2 emitter again this in not what this site is about but the compressed air engine will produce only 33% of that and that will occur in the production of the electricity to drive the electrics in the engine . Cold air, compressed in tanks to 300 times atmospheric pressure, is heated and fed into the cylinders of a piston engine. No combustion takes place, so technically there is no pollution actually produced by the car, although the energy needed to compress the air may still come from polluting oil- or coal-burning power stations.
Cost wise based on current electricity prices, and Im sure these will all rise is about $3 USD for 200 kms of travel.
In a perfect world providing again pricing of this technology is realistic this will be a terrific option especially for developing countries and their need for transport.
I am looking forward to see where this is heading but like all alternative fuel technology its only early early days in relevance its like the television has just been invented and we are talking about colour.
Colin Jones
MDI compressed air engine
"In MDI's original air engine, one piston compresses air from the atmosphere, holding it on a small container that feeds the high pressure air tanks with a small amount of air. Then that portion of the air is sent to the second piston where it works. During compression for heating it up, there is a loss of energy due to the fact that it cannot receive energy from the atmosphere as the atmosphere is less warm than it. Also, it has to expand as it has the crank. MDI's engine works with constant torque, and the only way to change the torque to the wheels is to use a pulley transmission of constant variation, losing some efficiency. When vehicle is stopped, MDI's engine had to be on and working, losing energy. In 2001-2004 MDI switched to a design similar to that described in Regusci's patents, which date back to 1990"
Compressed air cars from Tata
Mercedes Benz S400h Hybrid 2009
Electric KillaCycle High speed