O vídeo não prima pela qualidade, mas a notícia que ele trás é de qualidade ótima, imagina nunca mais precisar pagar para por combustível no carro e melhor ainda não poluir o meio ambiente.

Da só uma olhada:

Guy Negre’s Air Car could be released as soon as the end of 2010. (September 10, 2009)

My friend and fellow transit lover David Seitz sent me the cartoon on the right side.  It is too funny not to publish, but too irrelevant to fuel an entire post.  After all, I cannot claim with a straight face that hot air balloons are the future of travel.  We’re not living in the time of Jules Verne!  However, we are living in the time of Guy Negre, the founder and CEO of Motor Development International (MDI), which is marketing an air propelled automobile.

MDI has been mentioned before on this blog.  The company is creating engines that run on compressed air.  The company has also developed dual-energy engines that have some alternative fuel source in addition and have greater range.  The designs are fun (see above) and are incredibly eco-friendly.  Seeing them makes me think of great, efficient urban travel.  Currently, when I see smart cars, they make me smile.  They’re tiny, fuel-efficient, fit into just about any parking space, and still manage to haul the groceries.  The Air Pod could work the same way, except without fossil fuels!  While MDI is at the forefront of the air engine movement, there are a few other companies as well, such as Engine Air in Australia.

I am not claiming that air pods are a total solution, but there is no reason they cannot be part of one.  The Air Pod which runs on compressed air only is expected to travel about 220 km with the following features.

With small size, a tiny price, zero pollution, fun and futuristic design, AIRPod mark a turning point in the range of urban vehicles while renewing the idea of the automobile and transportation. You can drive with a joystick, it only costs one euro per 200 km and leaves no one indifferent in crept in traffic.

The dual power Air Flow has a 900 km range and extremely low emissions.  It has the following features

• Two minutes refill
• Mono-energy compressed-air in city, dual-energy on road
• Zero Pollution with mono-energy, 30g of CO2 with dual-energy
• 900Km road range with dual-energy, 100Km with mono-energy
• Car body monoblock made in fiberglass and external chassis for safety

I personally hope MDI succeeds and we end up seeing air cars on the road.  They are a great idea, better than hot air balloons (though perhaps not quite as much fun).  For all those people already thinking about getting around urban areas on mopeds or in Smart Cars or other similar vehicles, this is an even more eco-friendly solution.

Carro movido a ar. O futuro dos carros ecológicos no mundo sem fronteiras economicas.

No ano 2000, eu trabalhava como produtor no Programa do Ratinho no SBT. Aproveitando aquela boa fase de furos de reportagem consegui aprovação dos meus diretores Américo Ribeiro e Fábio Furiatti para produzir uma matéria sobre um inventor francês, que havia inventado um carro movido a ar. Como não tinha conseguido verba para produzir essa matéria na Europa – acabei fazendo a matéria com os vídeos enviados pela própria empresa MDI, que é criadora do veículo que não usa gasolina, álcool e nem etanol. Anos depois tentei fazer uma matéria com o próprio carro, porque um vice-presidente da companhia disse que o veículo estaria no Brasil para uma demonstração.

O carro movido a ar chegou no porto de Santos, mas misteriosamente o veículo não conseguiu entrar no país para minha completa decepção. Criaram tantas barreiras, que o carro movido a ar não entrou, e eu como produtor de pautas não consegui sequer uma imagem do carro proibido.

O carro teve que voltar para o porto da Espanha, e não conseguiu autorização para entrar no país. Era mais fácil entrar com cocaína e plutônio ilegal no Brasil do que com o carro movido a ar. Naquele momento de ingenuidade e idealismo pessoal percebi que existem interesses de grandes grupos, e que algumas invenções correm o risco de morrer em benefício dos lucros exorbitantes de uma minoria arcaica. No dia 18 de junho de 2009 tive notícias que a Fiat vai investir cada vez mais na produção do seu carro elétrico. É interessante, mas existem alternativas ecologicas quando o assunto é veículos não poluentes. O Brasil tem que liberar e investir em outros veículos alternativos.

Não podemos no futuro depender só do carro elétrico ou do etanol. O carro movido a ar veio para ficar apesar das restrições de alguns país com os seus interesses obscuros.

Inicialmente se eu fosse o prefeito Gilberto Kassab e o Governador José Serra incentivaria inserção fiscal, e concederia benefícios variados para os taxistas usaram o carro elétrico e o movido a ar. Seria menos poluição e um grande avanço na América Latina em nome da população. O inventor do carro a ar o francês Guy Nègre, e o empresário indiano Tata Nano acreditam que o futuro do carro ecológico é promissor, e isso significa que o governo do Estado de São Paulo e o Brasil tem que sair na frente , e até fazer parcerias com esses novos grupos, porque o mundo é cada vez mais um lugar sem fronteiras econômicas, e a população pode ganhar com essas iniciativas. O petróleo é muito nobre para ser usado somente em combustíveis ou aquecedor, porque no futuro será cada vez mais escasso.

SITE DA EMPRESA MDI – CRIADORA DO CARRO MOVIDO A AR.

http://www.mdi.lu/index.php

REPORTAGEM DO CARRO MOVIDO A AR

http://quatrorodas.abril.com.br/carros/impressoes/conteudo_278324.shtml

CARRO ELÉTRICO DA FIAT

http://autoestrada.uol.com.br/interno.cfm?id=2363

La société MDI (Motor Development International), créée et dirigée par l’ingénieur Guy Nègre, commercialise(ra) deux véhicules écolos la OneFlowAIR et l’AIRPod.

La OneFlowAIR est un utilitaire low-cost qui dispose d’un mode mono énergie air comprimé en ville (zéro pollution et 100 km d’autonomie) et d’un mode bi énergie sur route (30 g CO2/km et 900 km d’autonomie). La version complète sera commercialisée aux alentours de 5 000 €.

L’AIRPod est une micro-citadine qui pourrait débarquer prochainement à Paris. (candidate à l’appel d’offre de la mairie de Paris Autolib’)

Elle se laisse conduire avec un joystick et une caméra ainsi qu’un écran font office de rétroviseur. Selon MDI, ce véhicule urbain à air comprimé plutôt léger “moins de 500 kg”, d’une longueur de deux mètres pour 1,60 mètre de large, possède une autonomie de plus de 200 kilomètres pour une vitesse de pointe pouvant atteindre les 70 km/h.  Elle ne consomme qu’un euro pour 200 kilomètres. Son prix de vente sera d’environ 6000 euros.

via popularmechanics:

When Tata Motors teased the market with a car powered by compressed air, the buzz around the Web was palpable. The momentum continued when Zero Pollution Motors told PM that it expects to sell the world’s first air-powered car in the U.S. by early 2010. Now the AirPod, ZPM’s three-person working prototype, has made global headlines. The company plans to market the vehicle to tourist destinations in the U.S. So what is all the fuss about an air-powered car? CO₂ emissions. Or more precisely—a lack thereof. 

The company’s name, Zero Pollution Motors, alludes to the perception that its cars run on air and nothing but air—and wisely so, as that’s its big sell. A tiny car powered by compressed air probably isn’t all that highway friendly, and the AirPod isn’t likely to get you much farther than the distance of the average commute (if that). But the prospect of a radically low-emission vehicle is appealing to automakers, given increasing political pressure to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide in a sector that accounts for about 28 percent of all greenhouse gases in the United States. (Only the electric power industry produces more emissions than transportation.) Of course, air needs to be compressed and stored before it can be used to power a car—and that requires electricity. And right now, in the U.S., that electricity comes predominantly from coal. 

So is using the grid to compress air and, in turn, run an engine any more efficient than a hybrid’s gas-electric powertrain or even a conventional internal-combustion engine? We crunched the numbers on six vehicles that already have solid environmental bragging rights to find out. Note that this is, in no way, a cradle-to-grave comparison. It takes an enormous amount of energy to build a car and all of its components as well as transport that car to its dealer—not to mention to dispose of it at the end of its lifetime. And, let’s be clear, the vehicles with conventional powertrains are vastly superior in terms of real-world capability. But there is evidence that the air car, should it make production, might be a superstar when it comes to reduced CO₂ emissions. Let’s take a closer look…

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Read the entire article.

Bold text my emphasis.

via theautochannel.com:

Note: the iht piece did not include a graphic, so I have included a picture of a prototype One FlowAir for context.

via iht.com:

Consumers have grown used to the idea of cars powered with alternative fuels, from hydrogen to electricity. But running a car on air?

French firm MDI says it can be done, and used the Geneva Auto Show to display a bubble-shaped 3-wheeler it plans to start rolling out later this year.

The AirPod can travel up to 137 miles (220 kilometers) on a single 46-gallon (175-liter) tank of compressed air, producing zero emissions on the road, MDI spokesman Sebastien Braud said Wednesday.

Drivers can recharge their air supply in eight hours by plugging the car into electricity outlets, or by going to special ‘air stations’ where the process takes only 2 minutes.

The AirPod will be trialed by airlines Air France and KLM at their bases in Paris and Amsterdam, starting in May, said Braud. Another trial will begin in the southern French city of Nice in December.

The car will take some getting used to, and not just because of its novel power supply. Steering is done with a joystick, and the only doors open to the front and back. The two passenger seats are rear-facing and can be replaced with a cargo space.

Braud said the AirPod solves the problem of most electric-powered cars — heavy and costly batteries. This allows the car to be sold at a comparatively modest €6,000 ($7,500).

MDI is already planning a second model. The 4-wheeler OneFlowAIR cabrio will also run on compressed air, but can burn conventional fuels to extend its range.

Braud dismissed the suggestion that consumers might find his air-powered models a little lightweight.

Pointing at the green offerings of several well-known brands at the Geneva Auto Show, he questioned why anyone who wants an eco-friendly drive would buy a heavy sports car.

“That three-ton, 300 horsepower electric over there? That’s bioterrorism,” Braud said.

via 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 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.

Here’s a great video from early Novemeber featuring Shiva Vencat of Zero Pollution Motors discussing MDI’s Compressed Air Vehicles.

Enjoy!

That’s Guy Negre on the left, Shiva Vencat on the right.

The MDI AirPod was once again featured on cnn.com earlier this month.

via cnn.com:

“India’s biggest car maker, Tata Motors, and a U.S. startup, Zero Pollution Motors, have both signed deals with MDI and hope to have air cars on the road by 2010. In the U.S. the starting price will be nearly $18,000.

In October 2008, Air France and the Dutch airline KLM announced that they will be testing out MDI’s “AirPods” for six months starting in spring 2009. The four seaters will ferry passengers around Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris and Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.

MDI says one tank of compressed air will take you about 60 miles in the OneCAT, which has a top speed of 35 miles per hour. As you’d expect from a car that runs on air, there is zero pollution.”

_________________________________________

CNN failed to provide the new FlowAir names of the other vehicles, and they included the usual skeptical claims about range and efficiency, but still a noteworthy article since it’s CNN….

The title says all I need to say. Enjoy!

Here’s a very interesting interview on autobloggreen with Shiva Vencat and Guy Negre of MDI and ZPM, conducted in March at the 2008 NY Auto Show. They get a bit more technical with the details about how their cars will work, as well as the minor controversy involved in referring to these vehicles as “Air Cars”. 

The interview link above will take you to a short article at autobloggreen.com. Look for and click on the little speaker/play icon towards the bottom to listen to the audio-only interview.

This is another video that’s been around for a while, but if you have not seen it yet:

Once again, props to CATvolution!

UPDATED: 11/09/08

I’ve just noticed that going to the www.theaircar.com now brings you to the MDI website. Not sure when this started, or the circumstances behind it, but it’s certainly good news because there should be less confusion about these two separate companies going forward.

————————————————————————————–

Some of you who may have searched for information about the MDI Air Car may have come a cross a site called theaircar.com aircarfactories.com. It’s important to understand the circumstances regarding the relationship, or lack there of, between these companies. I felt the need to share this with you because I’ve come across so many comments from people who are obviously confused about this, and understandably skeptical.

I’ll let them both explain in their own words:

From the MDI website:

Following serious commercial misconducts from Mr. Miguel Celades, MDI had to officially stop all relationships with him since 3rd February 2008.

Any reference by Mr Miguel CELADES and/or his companies ” Motor de Aire Comprimido S.L. ” and “Air Cars Factories SL” and/or his websites “aircarfactories . es” and “cochesdeaire . com” , whether directly or indirectly to construction or sales of compressed air engines and/or vehicles using this technology in relation with MDI (Motor Development International constitutes serious charges of unfair competition and fraud.

Mr Miguel CELADES, former MDI agent in Spain and Spanish-speaking countries, is attempting to use the goodwill and success of MDI in order to mislead potential investors for his own benefit.

From the Air Car Factories website:

Mr. Miguel Celades Rex had represented the technology of Mr. Guy Negre for more than 8 years when at the beginning of 2008 this relationship broke down indefinitely because of commercial disagreements. At that moment Air Car Factories was created aimed to develop not only a car functioning on compressed air but also to commercialize other ecological vehicles and make them available to the public. Obviously we have started the development of our compressed air motor from the very beginning and through the association with other organizations which already have compressed air motors. These compressed air motors have absolutely nothing to do with the patented motor of Mr. Guy Negre.

Directly from the Zero Pollution Motors website:

Guy Negre, the CEO founder of MDI Group, is an aeronautics engineer and a trained engine manufacturer who holds over 100 patents. From early in his career, he has focused his research on improving the efficiency of engines. He started in 1967 at Renault’s R&D facilities. In the mid-70’s he worked on the development of aircraft engines. His accomplishments include the development of a rotary distributor for the R8 GORDINI civil aviation engine that developed 152 hp at 11,000 rpm. In the 80’s he headed the development of a 3.5L W12 engine for Formula-1 in a joint venture with the oil company ELF and the French Oil Institute. It is around that time, for environmental concerns, that he became interested in developing a zero pollution engine that runs on compressed air and established, in 1991, the company now known as the MDI Group.

La sensibilité aux thèmes environnementaux progressant, les voitures “vertes” se vendent de mieux en mieux, tandis que les grosses cylindrées et les 4*4 de loisir s’écoulent plus difficilement. Cette évolution est encore accélérée par les mesures de type bonus/malus, comme celle qui a été adoptée en France en 2007.

Jusqu’ici l’offre automobile ajoute à un modèle classique, souvent banal, des caractéristiques techniques destinées à le “verdir”.

La Prius, par exemple – due à Toyota, qui a su s’inscrire dans une tendance “développement durable” dès 1997 – ne doit pas son succès à une ligne révolutionnaire.

Maintenant qu’un marché semble durablement créé pour des voitures aux caractéristiques environnementales fortes, de nombreux nouveaux modèles vont émerger et la créativité des constructeurs sera plus forte.

En Inde, par exemple, la société Reva propose une petite voiture électrique, aux caractéristiques encore proches d’une voiturette : autonomie de 80 kilomètres, vitesse maximum de 80 Km/h. Un modèle deux places est annoncé avec une autonomie de 200 kilomètres et une vitesse maximum de 120 km/h.

Un constructeur indien, le groupe Tata, a su repérer les technologies de Guy Nègre, ingénieur français, et de sa société MDI. Il propose un véhicule à air comprimé, sans aucun rejet de CO2 (cf. vidéo). La MiniCats offre 3 places et son autonomie annoncée est de 80 kms avec une vitesse maximale de 110 km/h. Une version hybride permet d’accroître l’autonomie du véhicule avec une très faible consommation d’essence (inférieure à 2l aux 100 kms). Sur le plan commercial et marketing, en tout cas si l’on peut en juger par la simple présence sur internet, Guy Nègre a encore du travail puisqu’une requête “MDI Guy Nègre” sur Google renvoie sur le site d’un concurrent et ancien collaborateur…

Le projet “better place” prend acte des caractéristiques encore limitées des voitures électriques pour lancer un modèle – en partenariat avec Renault – sur le marché israélien. En Israël, 90% des conducteurs font moins de 70 kms par jour, et tous les centres urbains sont distants de moins de 150 kms. Ces caractéristiques font du pays un bon terrain de test pour la généralisation des voitures électriques. L’innovation technologique s’accompagne ici d’un modèle économique astucieux. Prenant acte du fait que la batterie est l’élément clé des modèles électriques, Better Place entend développer un réseau de stations de recharge qui permettra aussi de repartir immédiatement sans attendre grâce à un simple échange de batterie. Les premières voitures devraient rouler en utilisation normale en 2011, en Israël et au Danemark.

Ces projets innovants proposent encore des véhicules d’allure fonctionnelle. D’autres s’engagent déjà dans la production de véhicules plus séduisants.

Tesla Motors, aux Etats-Unis, propose un roadster électrique aux caractéristiques impressionnantes : vitesse maximale de 200 km/h, autonomie de 350 kms, une accélération de 0 à 100 km/h en 4 secondes, le tout pour un temps de recharge électrique de 3 heures 30, sur une prise électrique courante. La voiture est offerte à la réservation pour l’Europe, livrable en 2009, à 100 000 € HT…

Deuxième exemple étonnant, l’Aptera. Ce véhicule à trois roues offre deux places. En Californie, il est enregistré dans la catégorie des motos mais le constructeur revendique une solidité de construction digne d’une automobile. La version tout-électrique (il existe une version hybride), offre une autonomie de 193 kms, une vitesse maximale de 130 km/h et une accélération de 0 à 100 km/h en moins de dix secondes.

A voir toutes ces nouveautés, on pressent que le marché de la voiture «écologique» va s’animer considérablement dans les toutes prochaines années…

]]> http://allgoodblog.wordpress.com/2008/07/23/compressed-air-car/ Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:50:31 +0000 Jackson http://allgoodblog.wordpress.com/2008/07/23/compressed-air-car/

I received an e-mail (which I think was being widely circulated) a few months back about the Compressed Air Car developed by Motor Development International (MDI) founder Guy Negre.  While I’m a sucker for fly whips as much as the next man, I’ve recently started to shift my opinion about the need for a “big ass truck”.  I’d rather have the Earth stick around for a minute…this place is mad fun.  Also, since I paid $90 to fill up my tank the other day, these joints are very enticing.  I think that silver mini-van joint could be real fly.  Put a system in that mug…fresh.  I will be getting one of these, although hopefully they’ll increase it’s max speed a bit first…

Here’s some more info from that original e-mail:  The $12,700 CityCat, one of the planned Air Car models, can hit 68mph and has a range of 125 miles.  It will only take a few minutes for the CityCat to re-fuel at a gas station equipped with custom air compressor units.   MDI says it should only cost about $2 to fill the car up with 340 liters of air.

The Air Car will be starting production relatively soon, thanks to India’s TATA Motors.   There’s fuel, there’s renewable fuel, and then there’s user-renewable fuel!  What can be better than air?

——–

There are a few sources I saw on the Net who claimed the Air Car will be available in the US by 2010.  I hope it’s sooner than that, but better late than never.

All Good.

Just been reading articles about the Tata Nano and the Guy Negre Air compressed car on these articles, I guess Tata is marking an impression of India in the world map on the automobile front.

Hope to see the Tata come up the new Air Compressed car. Wish you all the best guys.

1. Motor Authority » Tata Nano could come with optional air-powered engine

2. An Air Car You Could See in 2009: ZPM’s 106 MPG Compressed-Air Hybrid : Gas 2.0

Technorati Tags: tata, Air compressed car, Guy Negre, ZPM, CO2

La macchina che va ad aria è realtà.
Risale a poco tempo fa la notizia che il colosso Tata Motors prevede di iniziare a vendere la CityCAT, ideata dal francese Guy Negre, in India entro la fine di quest’anno.
L’auto, a cinque posti, ha una struttura in fibra di vetro alimentata da aria compressa. Ha un peso di soli 350 kg e dovrebbe costare all’incirca l’equivalente di 8000 euro.
Il serbatoio, può essere riempito con aria da un compressore in soli tre minuti, più rapidamente della maggior parte delle batterie elettriche. In alternativa, l’auto può essere collegata alla rete elettrica per 4 ore. Per i lunghi viaggi CityCAT possiede un bruciatore a combustibile che serve a riscaldare l’aria, facendo in modo che questa si espanda e aumenti la pressione sui pistoni. Il bruciatore è fatto in modo tale da poter utilizzare tutti i tipi di combustibile liquido. Un pieno di 340 litri di aria compressa costerà € 1,30 e consentirà all’automobile un’autonomia di 190 km con una velocità massima di 100 km/h, naturalmente ad emissioni zero.
Non ci sono marce, sostituite da un computer. Semplice com’è, richiede manutenzione praticamente zero e un cambio d’olio ogni 50 mila chilometri.
La casa produttrice indiana stima che saranno prodotte almeno 6000 auto ad aria compressa entro la fine di quest’anno, e, a quanto pare, Negre ha firmato numerosi contratti ed il suo progetto sarà realizzato in 12 paesi fra cui Germania, Israele e Sud Africa.
Ricapitolando, esiste una macchina che non consuma una mazza, dà pochi problemi e non inquina. Niente male, direte voi, ma c’è, fra i tanti pro, anche un non trascurabile contro: l’auto è poco remunerativa per i petrolieri, quindi non montiamoci troppo la testa.
L’Italia, per chi non lo sapesse, è la nazione dalla massima concentrazione di automobili al mondo.