One fascinating project I have been keeping tabs on since the late 1990's is a company founded in France but now based in Spain by the name of MDI. Founded by a former race car technician named Guy Negre who's impetus for his invention came from his background in racing. The product line they have created is a line of Automobiles that run 100% on air! Sounds hard to believe I know but many demonstrations have been held, and video footage abounds. Compared to traditional polluting gasoline cars, the possibility for lessening the environmental footprint from driving a car is astounding. More information regarding the MDI Air Car: The applied science that MDI autos run on exists and is not new, in fact it had been available for a number years, but just not commercialized. Compressed air technology allows automotive powerplants to reduce their environmental footprint and save money for it's driver. After ten years of research and development, it appears that these eco-autos are ready for the marketplace. The AirCar by MDI despite reports to the contrary, compare very well to hybrid, electric and the still unavailable hydrogen powered cars. The AirCar is reasonably priced, has a good range of driving distance before needed a fill-up, and it's environmental efficiency compares positively to other so-called eco-cars. They are easy to drive, uncomplicated, inexpensive and reduce the environmental footprint over standard autos, significantly. MDI projects to manufacture 2 variations -- a 3 seater compact named the Minicat which will retail for approximately $9,850 and a 6 person sedan with a cost of $16,000 known as Citycat. The AirCar is secure, reliable doesn't emit pollutants, doesn't run on a fuel source that can blow up, plus it's non-polluting and in a price range that makes sense. The workings of the AirCar, include an electrical pump that squeezes air into a storage tank. The air successively pumps pistons that bring the automobile up to 70 mph. The automobile can journey 50 miles at top speed on a entire tank, and further at lower speeds. They are already working on models with greater range, as well as hybrid models that combine other energy sources to provide for unlimited range. They are slightly pricier but accomplish higher speeds and longer distances by operating on a combination of compressed air and standard gas or bio-fuels gained from natural matter. MDI says the air-only models meet the requirements of virtually all urban drivers, that average merely 11 miles a day. The air-only engines will be equipped on both Minicats and Citycats. These automotive powerplants have been formulated for city driving, where the top speed is around 50k. It is already shown that polluting automobiles will be illegal in cities, there are instances of this in several places, such as London, where if you want to drive a gas powered car, you must ante up a fee. The dual energy engine, alternatively, has been developed as much for the city as the open road and will be available in all MDI automobiles. The power plants will function entirely on compressed air when it is running under 50 km/h in cities. Though once the car is used outside cities at speeds over 50 km/h, the engines will change over to fuel mode. The engine will be able to use gas, gas oil, bio diesel, liquidized gas, ecological fuel, alcohol, etc. The cars on-board computer will detect when the air engine is running out of fuel and switch to the alternative fuel source for the 2, 4, or 6 cylinder engines. Environmental benefits? On the Air-Only models the only exhaust output through the tailpipe is hot air?
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