The car that runs on air.

[Jan and Scott]

An engineer has promised that within a year he will start selling a car that runs on compressed air, producing no emissions at all in town.

The OneCAT will be a five-seater with a fibre-glass body, weighing just 350kg and could cost just over £2,500.

It will be driven by compressed air stored in carbon-fibre tanks built into the chassis.

The tanks can be filled with air from a compressor in just three minutes - much quicker than a battery car.

Alternatively, it can be plugged into the mains for four hours and an on-board compressor will do the job.

For long journeys the compressed air driving the pistons can be boosted by a fuel burner which heats the air so it expands and increases the pressure on the pistons. The burner will use all kinds of liquid fuel.

The designers say on long journeys the car will do the equivalent of 120mpg. In town, running on air, it will be cheaper than that.

"The first buyers will be people who care about the environment," says French inventor Guy Negre.

[scampr]

I'd like to read more about that. That's fuckin amazing. Hopefully they all won't look retarded like the prius.

[Kyle E. Coyote]

The Aptera Typ-1 H is actually finished and coming out in 1st quarter 2009 at dealerships everywhere. The 120 MPG Typ-1 E is out now. The "H" will get 300 MPG and run on gas and electricity, with a top speed of around 110 MPH... the coolest part, though, is it has three wheels and looks like something out of The Jetsons. And, if I'm not mistaken, it only costs like 12 grand!

http://www.popularmechanics.com/auto...s/4237853.html

It looks retarded, but a sorta-kinda-cool way. That's why I've christiened it the Marilyn Manson Mobile.

[strommsarnac]

There's also the Venture One (sibling) of the Carver. I'm seriously considering prying my 94' Impala SS from the warm hands to get one of these. I only drive about 5 miles one way to work and in the Winter, that big 350 V8 doesn't even hit 150f. That's a killer for a V8.

http://www.flytheroad.com/

[Kyle E. Coyote]

A 100 MPG, 100 MPH car that feels like a jet fighter... put me down for the Hybrid model, please!!!

How much would one of these cost, and when the hell are they coming out?!

[Jan and Scott]

Here’s another type of vehicle that uses air to increase fuel efficiency. The new tech under the hood is called Fuel Vapor, and it’s able to increase the fuel efficiency of any gas engine by up to 20% while at the same time decreasing CO2 emissions by 30%, all without a catalytic converter. This is all apparently made possible by mixing air with fuel at a ratio of 20:1, as opposed to 14.7:1, which is standard for most cars.

Although the Fuel Vapor system can be installed on any gas engine, it’s flagship platform, the alé (that would be “allay,” not “ale”), is no slouch. The alé has a 180hp Honda engine and can accelerate from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds, with an electronically limited top speed of 140 mph. It corners at 1.7g on street tires, and at 92 mpg, can drive from Canada to San Francisco without refueling. Furthermore, it emits 75% less CO2 than your average hybrid. The initial run of these cars will be hand built and cost $75,000 (Canadian), with mass production predicted to bring the price down to less than half that in 5 years. A video, and more commentary, after the jump.

[deadinabottle]

^^^if they put that honda engine in a car that wasnt so futuristic looking, i think a lot more people would be persuaded to purchase one

[DSF Guest 10]

I own a Honda Civic '05 Hybrid. I bought it used in '07, with 10k miles on it, for about 18k. It was promised to give 50mpg highway, minimum, but despite using all the tricks I know (short of driving like a pussy) It gets a bare maximum of 42. When I drive aggressively (like I normally do) I get about 38.

My mom's '03 Accord got that much and it wasn't a Hybrid. I'm currently thinking I got ripped off.

[mathiaswvu]

yeah but my truck shuts off the pumps at $75. WERD

[DSF Guest 10]

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I don't think I understood that post.