Buy Microsoft Office Home & StudentFill 'er up, with air
The AirPod is a three-seat and three-wheel car that runs on compressed air.
(Credit: CNET)Among the plethora of alternative fuels being put forth to replace oil, the most odd might seem simple: air. But MDI International, based in Luxembourg, showed off a car at the 2009 Geneva auto show that runs on just that. What motivates the little AirPod concept is the energy from compressed air stored in a tank at 5,000 pounds per square inch (PSI).
The driver sits alone in the AirPod, turning the front wheel with a joystick.
(Credit: CNET)The AirPod vehicle is small, holding just three passengers, with a single seat facing front for the driver and a bench facing backward for two more people. MDI claims a range of more than 112 miles in an urban setting, and less than two minutes to refill the 46-gallon air tank. But even though the AirPod can reach speeds of just less than 45 mph, the air-powered engine produces only 8 horsepower, suggesting slow acceleration.
Because of the low horsepower, the AirPod is designed to be exceptionally light, coming in at 485 pounds. Because the air tank and engine don't take up much room, most of the AirPod is devoted to passenger space. The car is a three-wheeler, and the driver uses a joystick to turn, rather than a conventional steering wheel.
Although air power means the AirPod drives emission-free, some energy is required to compress air into its tank. MDI puts the cost of a tank refill at just 1 euro.
MDI has announced deals with Air France and KLM to run a test fleet of the AirPod cars at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris and Schipol airport in Amsterdam.
See more coverage of the 2009 Geneva auto show.
I'll stick with my big V8, and actually enjoy driving.
Why not? I'm getting sick of this judgementalism brought on by envy. If he wants to drive a big V8 because he enjoys it, more power to him, and keep your nose out of his business.
And, no, his V8 is not destroying the planet. It's feeding plant life with lots of delicious carbon dioxide.
Plus, I get over 60 MPG with my motorcycle!
Driving fuel effecient and having fun is possible, just get a motorcycle!!!
I'll stick with my four wheeled vehicles, thank you.
Right. Because the air tank taking off like a rocket is totally harmless....
How do they power the heater?
Gdmaclew's right, what do you do... In Minnesota, one of the City's tried going "green" with an electric car for one of the city guys.... But the car had NO heat.. sucks when its -15 out!
Plus cold weather is going to change how a car like this would run. Air can have water in it.. and can freeze!
I'm all for new, cleaner, cheaper cars and truck ( I think electric will be the way to go ) But this is not it.. not for most.
Filling a tank to 5000 psi with a hand pump is impossible.
No dangerous fuel on board, too.
but it takes a $3000 compressor to fill to 5000psi in two minutes
still the cleanest urban vehicle.
use solar to run the compressor and the carbon footprint is just the manufacture of the hardware.
If it makes sense the mini taxis of the world will convert - fiber wound tanks and old air tools for motors.
but of course one V8 gas guzzler commuting 30 miles will negate the gains of 100s of these.
Can't wait for oil prices to go back up.
Except for the fact that you'd need to build something like 58 new coal fired power plants to provide the needed electricity, or a few thousand square miles of wind farms or solar farms.
Typo: "backwar" should be "backwards"
"8HP suggests slow acceleration." Acceleration normally is associated with torque of the engine not HP ratings, HP rating affect top speed more than acceleration, and stating 8HP means slow acceleration is somewhat misleading. Most motorcycle has much less HP than a car, but low weight and effecient drive draing more than compensate it in acceleration department, in top speed too.
It's not to say I believe the AirPod is a speed racer, but HP rating isn't everything, this is such a non-traditional design, I am all for it!!
Why haven't any of these become commercial? Or is it just not in North America? Sure they usually look
weird and are probably more expensive to manufacture, but SOMEONE would buy it! I know I would, if I had the money.
The only reason this is even an issue is because environmental propagandists have succeeded in brainwashing enough people to forget their third grade education about carbon dioxide being plant fertilizer and have re-programmed them to think it is the most toxic substance on the planet, next to Republicans.
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by kjonna
March 4, 2009 4:56 PM PST
- How do you pick chicks up with this thing? It would be funny saying to a hot chick "hop in the back"
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by illegallydead
March 4, 2009 10:56 PM PST
- haha well then, you just have to resort to picking up hippy chicks.
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (57 Comments)Living in Boulder, CO, I know I could pick up chicks just by driving down the road and hollerin out: "Hey baby, this thing doesn't use ANY gas. Hop in, I'll give a ride back to the commune ;)