http://www.flixxy.com/zero-pollution-automobile.htm

Can you imagine?

Jim

I was very sceptical given the size of the engine which seemed very complex and heavy. This link shows the same thing along with an alternative from Aus which looks much more efficient.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=QmqpGZv0YT4&feature=related

hey I want one! The sooner we stop sending our $$ to people who really hate us, the better. This country needs a full blown Manhattan Project for energy independence!

Hey this could be great for Bonaire as you could check out an extra Tank to get you to and from the dive site. I can't think of a better place in the world to do this with Short distance to travel and an ample supply of compressed air.

Thoughts?

Here is the web site for this invention http://www.engineair.com.au/

Can you imagine Buggies like these replacing the huge trucks in Bonaire.

I want to invest. I do think this is going to be reality. My mom had a chance to invest money when she worked for the Navy Department. There was this weird guy trying to get people to invest in a company he wanted to begin. It later became known as Texas Instruments. In the early 80's, a friend of mine invested in another company. It became known as Microsoft.

Vince - is he a relative????

Well my BS alarm just pegged. Compressed air is great for breathing underwater but not good for pushing a car around. Just look at energy density, gasoline has 500 times more energy per weight than compressed air. So lets see to get the same range we would need a compressed air tank 500 times heavier than the present gasoline tank. Oh yeah that's going to happen.

There's no getting around basic physics. Jim if you want to invest in future technology, skip hydrogen and compressed air power and go for the underwater turbines and printed solar cells.

Cecil

My BS alarm sounded as well which is why I dug deeper. If you look at the later half of the video I posted they have a much more efficient and believable engine (similar to the Wankel rotary engine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wankel_engine) and they are quoting 2 hours run time from a top up. That should be sufficient for one dive (drive to the site and back) albeit I guess at a slower speed than a fuelled truck. But what a pleasant change that would bring to Bonaire cutting down traffic speeds and pollution.

Well, I like the idea...except if it had to be clean air, it wouldn't work in polluted cities like LA...lol...

Brian, a neighbor has a little car like that you posted the picture of. This guy has more "toys" than anyone I know...lol. I came home from work one day, and he, his wife, and little girl were "tooling" around the neighborhood. As they passed my house I just laughed and said "you have more toys enrique!" lol...they all laughed too.

Brian, the problem is they are just talking about ways to get the energy out of the compressed air more efficiently. If you compared efficiencies of a modern gasoline engine to this compressed air engine and they were twice as efficient (not bloody likely) then their gas tank only has to be 250 times bigger. It's just not going to happen.

Like many of the new fangled drive systems, if they do not get reasonable range it is not going to sell, especially in the american market.

And do not even get me started on hydrogen. Silly on so many levels.

Cecil I was looking at Bonaire with a view of a fleet of "Golf/Drive" trucks as a niche solution as opposed to something for the US.

That is a possibility, but electric/batteries would seem a better choice. It's a pretty safe bet there is a plug where you are going vs. finding an air compressor (although on Bonaire they are almost as common as electric outlets).

Oh by the way it's a safe bet a scuba compressor will not work for a compressed air car. They generally need oil in the air and no where near as clean and dry.

Blimey Cecil forget the big picture and think about Bonaire!!! I think it might work and so much better than batteries which have bad materials when it comes recycling. We are talking about short trips and easy access to compressed air and that sounds ideal.

But but.....oh never mind. Who knows maybe it will work on Bonaire. I do like the simplicity especially if done with a Wankel. Yes batteries do have some nasty valuable stuff that is a crying shame are not recovered and reused.