See the BBC story …
How come none of the US/ Europian auto majors have pursued this ?? or are they convinced it is a non worthy effort ?? :dubious:
Or is the technology patented by this company ?? I am sure the automajors would have definitely thought of something well before this guy…
It isn’t. The energy density of compressed air is very low compared to other things like batteries or gasoline. You still have to get the energy to compress the air, and that comes largely from…fossil fuels. And, it’s difficult to store, since you need a very heavy tank capable of withstanding the high pressures needed.
Q E D ,
So this car may not be net energy saver !! Is it correct ??
Correct. If anything it’s likely to be a net energy loss. One of the problems with using compressed air to store energy (in addition to those I mentioned already) is that right off the bat, you lose a fairly large amount of the energy you put into it, since the air heats up as it’s compressed–remember your gas laws from HS chem class? That heat subsequently escapes, and the compressed air eventually reaches ambient temperature again, and the energy that was in that heat is lost, unless you have some really good insulation (which is still more mass you have to expend energy to haul around.)
Hmmm…
TATAs are no idiots … :dubious:
Is it to have a first mover advantage, on an alternate ,easily available fuel ??
UPS is testing “hydraulic hybrid” trucks. They use compressed air for temporary energy storage - storing energy from the engine when it’s otherwise idle, and extracting energy for accelerating. Pretty much the same way the battery on the Prius is used.
If you use compressed air as the only energy source, I imagine it would be difficult to get a useful range.
Sounds like an air brained idea to me.
When a top industrial group like TATAs puts their money into this , I believe there is something which we do not know yet…
Negre has been shopping this idea around for a number of years, and cars were supposed to go on sale in 2002 in the US. There’s supposed to an Aussie factory turning them out soon. Or there was, Negre’s pretty much stopped talking about it for some reason. He’s managed to get a number of body shells built, and I’ve seen video of one driving around in a parking lot, but no clips of it on the streets, operating at the kinds of speeds city traffic flows at. I can’t help but think that Ratan Tata has been played for a sucker.
Well, Ratan Tata has proved all other chiefs of indian auto majors , suckers ,by launching Tata Nano. .
Definitely there is something cooking, we don’t know yet…
[Hyde]
It’s a conspiracy, man!
[/Hyde]
The Nano is merely Henry Ford’s Model-T with a new coat of paint and it’s low price owes more to the inexpensive nature of Indian labor than engineering genius. The fact that Tata is working with Negre proves nothing about the workability of the concept. Negre has claimed many times in the past that he’d have the car on sale shortly, and nothing has materialized. Just because he’s now gotten Tata to agree to kick a few dollars his way is meaningless.
Well, we’re certainly ready for it. Nearly every gas station in the US sells compressed air. :rolleyes: Fifty cents for about two minutes, or whatever it takes to set three tires right. Then you have to pay another fifty cents to fill the fourth one. :smack:
My father’s friend started a compressed air business years ago. They set up and maintained those air compressors in several states up north. He recently sold his business for $35 million. 
It seems the pun/humor didn’t translate well on screen.
air-brained vs hair-brained…never mind.
Carry on as if I disappeared into thin air.
Hey ! Mark, I did get the humor THEN,buddy 
Just that I think,there is more to this story, than meets the eye…
Or something they don’t know yet…
yeah !
if it happens, then TATAs have been taken for a ride , in a lot of hot air …