Air-Powered Cars Planned for US Market

Up to 1,000 miles on one tank of gas? One eight gallon tank of gas? The engine that makes this possible, first introduced over 10 years ago by French inventor Guy Negre, runs on compressed air. Now Zero Pollution Motors (ZPM) plans to release the CityCAT, a six-passenger sedan using this technology,

to the Northeastern US by early 2010. The range and speed capabilities of the CityCAT are enhanced by using a small amount of fuel to heat the compressed air and increase air pressure. To recharge the air tanks the vehicle can be plugged in for a few hours to power an on-board air compressor, or pulled up to a high-powered filling station for a few minutes.

During city driving the car is powered by the compressed air alone. As speed increases, gasoline or other fuels are used to heat the air and increase pressure to drive the pistons more quickly. Even at top end speeds (up to 96 miles per hour) emissions are greatly reduced, and air released from the carbon fiber tanks is cleaner than it was before compression.

Prototypes of the CityCAT are already undergoing safety testing in Europe. The concept has been in development by the French company Moteur Development International (MDI) since the 1990s. ZPM and MDI are also attempting to win the Automotive X PRIZE, scheduled to be announced in March.

Tata Motors has made an agreement with MDI to manufacture similar Compressed Air Technology (CAT) vehicles in India.

[Zero Pollution Motors]