India Air Powered Car from Tata Motors
Filed under: Autos | By: Peter Chubb
Posted on: June 11, 2009 | 1 Comment
Tata Motors is about to revolutionize how we all travel, well that is what the Indian automaker is hoping. Tata Motors have announced its promise to develop the world’s first commercial air-powered car. There will be a few models, one will be called the CityCAT, and the company claims that the car will reach a top speed of 68 miles per hour, and have a range up to 125 miles.
If those figures were correct, then this vehicle would be perfect for short urban commutes. The CityCAT can be refueled at a gas station, which has been fitted with specially designed air compressors. The cost for a full tank of air would be $2 US.
According to Daily Green, Tata Motors have said that the CityCAT will sell for around US$13,000, making it very affordable. There are a few problems with the three air powered cars, the main one is the safety of the cars, as they are only held together by glue. We are sure that those issues will be rectified.
Could these air powered actually save our planet?
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Yep, sure. This one’s been coming for a while.
To have a range of 68 miles, consider either how large the tank will have to be, or how thick it will have to be in order to store the compressed air (energy) required. There are some simple equations you can use to see just how viable this will be. It will take energy to compress the air in the first place.
That will be a compressor run on, most likely, electricity. There are bound to be losses from this set-up as you change electrical energy into stored potential mechanical energy and a lot of the energy used in doing so will be lost in heat.
A great little toy but really, try focusing on something that actually has potential and file this one next to the stories on aliens and the all-purpose cure for cancer.