PNUMATIC CAR

A couple of month's back we talked about the imminent
launch of the pneumatic car - billed by it's makers
as a zero pollution vehicle. The first commercial compressed air car is on the
verge of production in a recently signed partnership
with Tata Motors, India's largest automotive manufacturer.

The MiniC.A.T is a light urban car, with a tubular chassis
that is glued not welded and a body of fiberglass.
The revolutionary electrical system uses just one cable
and the vehicle has a wireless control system.
There are no keys - just an access card.

Ninety cubic meters of compressed air is stored
in fiber tanks. The expansion of this air drives
the pistons in the specially designed motor
to propel the vehicle.

The air conditioning system makes use of the expelled
cold air. Due to the absence of combustion and
resultant residues, an oil change (1 liter of vegetable oil)
is only necessary every 30,000 miles.

According to the designers, it costs less than one Euro
per 100 kilometers (about a tenth of a petrol car).
Its mileage is about double that of the most advanced
electric car (200 to 300 kilometers or 10 hours of driving).

Refilling the car will, take place at petrol stations adapted
to supply compressed air. In two or three minutes, and at
a cost of approximately 1.5 Euros, the car will be ready to go
another 200-300 kilometers.

Could this be global warming spokesman Al Gore's dream machine?
Some of us are skeptical. Here's a downbeat assessment
from one of our member's:

"Compressed air vehicles are not merely hype - they are a scam.
I have used compressed air extensively and it's invaluable in
a few specialized applications. It has dreadful energy efficiency
over the full cycle; somewhere in single figure percent.
If one is bent on increasing global warming and raising the cost
of driving, then widespread adoption of pneumatic vehicles
is the way to go."

I have to add, speaking as a keen scuba diver, the most
innovative use of compressed air developed in the last century
was the aqualung, invented by Jacques Cousteau.

Seriously though, while the pneumatic car itself may have
acceptable efficiency - the air has to be compressed
in the first place. And this is not an energy efficient exercise.

What's more, if all these pneumatic cars leak air like your
average industrial pneumatics installation, then this will
blow the cars' running cost out of the water. It'd be like
driving your conventional car with a hole in the petrol tank.

As a matter of fact, I'm thinking about approaching
Tata Motors with the idea of including a copy of
Peter Rohner's pneumatics book in the glove compartment
of every pneumatic car they produce. Because it explains
what you must know if you want to minimize the operating
cost of your pneumatic equipment.

Of course, you don't have to be the proud owner of
a pneumatic car to justify having a copy. In fact,
if you have anything at all to do with pneumatic equipment
it's essential reading: